Anurag Thakur’s political stature to grow with 5th victory

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, June 5

The defeat of Congress turncoat Rajinder Rana, who was the BJP candidate in the Assembly byelection, while Union Minister Anurag Thakur got a massive lead of 23,853 votes in Sujanpur was a ‘sweet revenge’ of people for the defeat of former Chief Minister PK Dhumal in the 2017 elections.

The people of Sujanpur gave an overwhelming mandate to Anurag while Rajinder Rana lost the Sujanpur bypoll. Rana had defeated Dhumal, two-time Chief Minister, in 2017, depriving him of a third term in office. The BJP high command had declared Dhumal as the chief ministerial face but the defeat at the hands of Rana changed the politics of Himachal and catapulted Jai Ram Thakur to the top post.

The huge support for the Dhumal family in Sujanpur becomes even more significant against the backdrop of Rajinder Rana’s defeat by a margin of 2,440 votes in the byelection. Rana had won the Sujanpur seat as an Independent candidate in the 2012 Assembly elections and later joined the Congress. He joined the BJP after he along with five other Congress MLAs were disqualified earlier this year.

Anurag has proved his mettle by winning five consecutive Lok Sabha elections. His had won the seat for the first time in the 2007 parliamentary byelection. His vote share had risen from 53.47 per cent in the 2007 Lok Sabha byelection to 69.04 per cent in the 2019 elections. Anurag has carved a niche for himself both in the party and the Union Government and his stature is likely to grow.

It was an emotional moment for Anurag yesterday when he returned home after winning the election and sought his father’s blessings. The picture shared by him on his social media handle has gone viral. His younger brother Arun Dhumal, at present the Chairman of the IPL, and former minister Virender Kanwar from Kutlehar in Una were present there.

Though Anurag and his father had campaigned for Rajinder Rana in the Sujanpur Assembly constituency but the party workers were angry with the party leadership for imposing a turncoat on them, resulting in different voting patterns for the Assembly byelection and the Lok Sabha elections. “We are dedicated BJP workers as individuals don’t matter and the party is supreme. Dhumal ji and I had campaigned in Sujanpur for the BJP candidate’s victory,” Anurag had said when apprehensions were expressed over Rana not getting the wholehearted support of the Dhumal family. Dhumal had won three Lok Sabha elections from the Hamirpur parliamentary seat in 1989, 1991 and 2007.