Himachal bypoll: Pratibha Singh is Congress pick for Mandi LS seat

Tribune News Service
Shimla, October 5

The Congress on Monday formally announced its candidate for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat and the three assembly segments.

As expected, Pratibha Singh, a former MP and the wife of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, has been declared as the candidate for the Mandi Lok Sabha by-poll. The Congress candidates are likely to file their nominations on October 8—the last date for nominations.

The Congress also declared its candidates for the three assembly segments of Arki (Solan), Jubbal-Kotkhai (Shimla), and Fatehpur (Kangra). For Jubbal Kotkhai, Congress picked Rohit Thakur, grandson of former chief minister Ram Lal Thakur and a two-time MLA.

Sanjay Awasthy is Congress party’s choice for Arki segment, which fell vacant due to Virbhadra Singh’s death. Awasthy had unsuccessfully contested the 2012 assembly polls from the seat and it went to Virbhadra Singh in 2017.

Bhawani Singh Pathania, the son of former minister Sujan Singh Pathania, will be fielded from Fatehpur, a seat that fell vacant after his father’s death. Pathania hopes to cash in on voter sympathy.

Ram Swaroop of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had won the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 elections with a record margin.

Of the assembly seats, BJP had won Jubbal Kotkhai in 2017, and the Congress took both Fatehpur and Arki.