Rohru MLA Brakta wants to create jobs nearer home for locals

Bhanu P Lohumi 

A protégé of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, two-time Congress MLA from the Rohru (Reserve) constituency in Shimla district, Mohan Lal Brakta (53) is a low-profile politician, whose focuses on development.

Brakta forayed into electoral politics after the Rohru constituency was declared reserved in delimitation in 2012 and he was handpicked by Virbhadra Singh to contest from his bastion.

He won the 2012 Assembly poll with the highest margin of 28,050 votes and retained the seat in 2017 with a reduced margin of 9,345 votes. However, he unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election from the Shimla (Reserve) parliamentary constituency and was able to stall the Modi wave in his Assembly segment, Rohru, from where he secured a lead of 13,127 votes.

Son of Teju Ram, Brakta was born on June 19, 1965, at Rohru. He is an advocate by profession and practised law for 18 years from 1993 to 2011. Married to Ranjna Brakta, he did his LLB from Himachal Pradesh University. He has one son and a daughter, both students of law.  He remained Member, Estimates, Rural Planning, Public Undertakings, Welfare, Privileges and Ethics Committees from 2013-17 and was nominated as Member, Welfare, Rule and e-Governance-cum-General Purposes Committees.

Brakta was never an active member of any student organisation but was inclined towards NSUI during his student days. He is conversant with English and Hindi languages and reading is his favourite pastime.

Rohru being a remote area, strengthening road connectivity, reliable and uninterrupted power and water supply are his main priority. Concerned over the drug menace, Brakta says collective efforts are needed to make the state drug-free.

“We are working along with NGOs to eliminate drug menace from the area and have launched a sustained drive by involving all sections of the people. There is vast potential for tourism and adventure sports in the area and I am pushing for tourism projects to create large-scale employment nearer home for the locals,” he adds.

An orchardist, who loves interacting with people, Brakta acknowledges Virbhadra Singh as his mentor and says understanding the problems of people and making earnest efforts to redress their grievances is his main task as a public representative.