Himachal bypoll campaign ends, stakes high for CM Sukhvinder Sukhu as wife in fray

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, July 8

The high-pitched vitriolic campaigning for the three Assembly byelections of Dehra, Nalagarh and Hamirpur concluded today with the ruling Congress and the BJP putting in their might to sway the voters in their favour.

Independent MLAs now on BJP ticket

• The bypolls are being held after the resignation of 3 Independent MLAs Hoshyar Singh (Dehra), KL Thakur (Nalagarh) and Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur), who are now contesting on BJP ticket
• Troubled by the rebel factor, the BJP has made all-out efforts to woo voters under the joint leadership of former CM Jai Ram Thakur, Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur and state chief Rajeev Bindal

A total of 2.59 lakh voters will cast their votes for the three Assembly bypolls on July 10. The byelections are being held following the resignation on March 22 by three Independent MLAs Hoshyar Singh (Dehra), KL Thakur (Nalagarh) and Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur), who joined the BJP and are now contesting on the party ticket.

The stakes are high for Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu as his wife Kamlesh Thakur is making her electoral debut from Dehra. The Congress is betting big on the CM’s wife, who is pitted against two-time Independent MLA Hoshyar Singh.

The BJP is making all-out efforts to woo voters as it is keen to win all three seats after the Independents resigned from the Assembly to fight on the BJP ticket. Hamirpur and Nalagarh are witnessing a keen contest with senior party leaders, including CM Sukhu and Leaders of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, campaigning aggressively for their party candidates. However, the rebel factor, especially in Dehra and Nalagarh, has queered the pitch for the saffron party which has failed to placate former minister Ramesh Dhawala, who has stayed away from the campaign. During the campaigning, the BJP raked up unfulfilled promises, poor governance, huge debt burden and rampant corruption under the Congress regime. Its leaders levelled allegations of corruption against the government and accused it of pushing the state to the brink of bankruptcy.

The Congress, which lost all four LS seats and managed to get a lead in only seven of 68 Assembly segments, is hopeful that people will vote in its favour. The results of the bypolls will, however, not have a bearing on the fate of the government as Congress has 38 MLAs while BJP tally is 27 in the 68-member Vidhan Sabha.