Mandi, April 6
Congress workers of Lahaul and Spiti district held a protest against rebel MLA Ravi Thakur, who is the BJP candidate for the byelection from the constituency, at Keylong today.
Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi, who is the in-charge of the Lahaul and Spiti constituency, and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sunder Singh Thakur, co-incharge of the constituency, led the protest march. The demonstrators shouted slogans against Ravi Thakur and pledged to defeat him by a big margin.
The protesters said Thakur was a traitor who tried to destabilise the elected Congress government by playing into the hands of BJP leaders.
Negi said, “Ravi Thakur betrayed the people of the state and also of the Lahaul and Spiti Assembly constituency by playing into the hands of BJP leaders. Ravi Thakur backstabbed the Congress and he along with other five Congress rebel MLAs tried to destabilise the elected government in Himachal for self-gain. For this, the people of Lahaul and Spiti and the people of the state will never forgive Ravi Thakur and his five other associates.”
He said that the BJP leadership tried to topple the state government by using money power, adopting unethical and unconstitutional practices but did not succeed in its nefarious designs. The people of the state will give a befitting reply to the Congress rebels and the BJP in the upcoming Assembly byelections and the Lok Sabha elections.
Negi assured the Congress workers that the ticket would be given to a core member of the party . “There is no dearth of leaders in Lahaul and Spiti. The party will not give ticket to BJP rebel Ram Lal Markanda at any cost. This opinion will be conveyed to the party high command soon,” he added.
The District Congress Committee is pressing the party leadership not to give ticket to Markanda. The Chief Parliamentary Secretary said that he, too, favoured giving ticket to a core party worker of Lahaul and Spiti instead of an outsider.
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