Dharamsala bypoll to pose tough challenge to BJP, Congress

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, March 24

With the Congress MLA from Dharamsala, Sudhir Sharma joining the BJP after being disqualified from the House by Speaker of Himachal Vidhan Sabha, stage is set for byelections in the Assembly segment.

The Dharamsala byelections is likely to pose challenge for both the BJP and Congress while giving the party ticket and trying to balance local equations during byelections.

Too many aspirants in saffron party

• Sudhir Sharma had won the election in 2022 defeating BJP candidate Rakesh Chaudhary.
• Rakesh Chaudhary had joined the BJP just before 2022 Assembly elections and was allotted the party ticket. Though he failed to win, he has a strong support among the OBC vote bank in the area
• Vishal Nehria, another BJP leader, is a strong contender for party ticket. He won the byelections in 2019 but was not given ticket in 2022
• The sitting BJP MP from Kangra, Kishan Kapoor, is eying ticket for his son Shashwat Kapoor

Sudhir Sharma had won the election in 2022 by a narrow margin of about 3,000 votes defeating BJP candidate Rakesh Chaudhary. The BJP now is in a dilemma finding candidate for the byelection. Rakesh Chaudhary, a former Congress leader, had joined the BJP just before the 2022 Assembly elections and was allotted the party ticket. Though he failed to win, he has a strong support among the OBC vote bank in the area.

Vishal Nehria, another BJP leader being, is a strong contender for party ticket. He won the Dharamsala byelections in 2019 but was not given the party ticket in 2022 Assembly elections. The sitting BJP MP from Kangra, Kishan Kapoor is lobbying for party ticket for his son Shashwat Kapoor. Besides, BJP state spokesperson Sanjay Sharma and party leader Rakesh Sharma are trying for party ticket for the byelection.

To add to the list, now former Congressman Sudhir Sharma has joined the BJP and party would have to take him into confidence while deciding the ticket for Dharamsala byelections. Sources here said that BJP would surely face a tough job satisfying all factions within the party.

The Congress, on the other hand, faces leadership crisis. After the exit of Sudhir Sharma, the party lacks any leader of stature to be fielded from the constituency. Former Mayor Davinder Jaggi and sitting Mayor Neenu Sharma are the likely leaders the party could field. The party may opt for a greenhorn from Dharamsala.

The Congress faces another challenge in terms of the constituency being allegedly ignored by the government led by Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. The Chief Minister has been accused of not holding winter sojourn in Dharamsala as had been the practice earlier. The coming up of North Campus of Central University Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) was a big issue in this constituency.

The Congress government has been accused of not releasing Rs 30 crore for bringing up the North campus of CUHP in Jadrangal area of Dharamsala. The residents, including a large number of women, have been holding dharna demanding that the government should release Rs 30 crores for bringing up the CUHP campus in Jadrangal. However, sources here say that the Chief Minister had opposed the idea. Any Congress candidate from Dharamsala would have to face the question regarding failure of the state government to deposit Rs 30 crore for bringing up the CUHP campus in Jadrangal.