BJP, Congress face direct fight in byelection for Solan ward
Congress and BJP face a direct fight in the byelection for ward number five in Solan Municipal Corporation with no independent candidate having filed nomination on the last day of filing nomination today.
The ward was held by the BJP and the seat fell vacant after demise of the incumbent Kulbhushan Gupta in March.
Only two nominations were filed today, one by BJP candidate and the other by the Congress candidate. “Puneet Narang filed the nomination on behalf of the Congress party while Amardeep filed his nomination from the BJP,” said Dr Punam Bansal, SDM Solan.
Puneet Narang is already a nominated councillor. He had tendered his resignation two days ago from the post to pave the way for filing his nomination for ward number five.
Amardeep, whose wife was a former ward councillor, is considered the best bet for the BJP as he was fairly active in the ward. His name was okayed after no one from the family of Kulbhushan Gupta, who held the ward prior to his demise in March, was keen to contest the election.
Both the BJP and the Congress leaders had been convening meetings with their councillors and leaders for the last few days to gauge views of their views on selecting a strong candidate.
No papers were filed on the first two days of filing nomination till yesterday. The names were finalised late last evening by both the parties. Interestingly, no rebel has filed any nomination though there were several contenders from both the parties.
Since victory on this seat will not alter any political equation in the civic body, little enthusiasm was being seen in both the parties for this byelection. The Mayor’s post is held by a Congress councillor while BJP holds the post of Deputy Mayor. The Congress has nine councillors while the BJP has been reduced to five after the demise of Kulbhushan Gupta and there was an independent councillor.
This byelection will be held on September 29. As per a notification issued by State Election Commissioner, the process of nomination has been completed today and the papers will be scrutinised on September 16.
