Post Assembly poll loss, JP Nadda's first visit to Kangra on June 12

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, June 9

BJP national president JP Nadda will visit Kangra district on June 12. It will be his first visit to Kangra after the drubbing in the last Assembly elections; the BJP won only four of the 15 Assembly seats in the district.

Sources say that Nadda will kick-start the campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Kangra. He will later hold a rally in the Mandi parliamentary constituency on June 14.

BJP chief to address rally in Nurpur

• JP Nadda will launch campaign for the Lok Sabha poll
• He will inaugurate BJP offices in Nurpur, Palampur
• The BJP chief will address a political rally in Nurpur

Nadda will inaugurate BJP offices in Nurpur and Palampur. In Nurpur, he will also address a political rally. First-time BJP MLA Ranvir Nikka represents the Nurpur Assembly segment. He had won the seat with the second highest margin of votes after former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, who retained his Seraj seat.

The BJP had fielded Nikka from Nurpur in place of sitting Forest Minister Rakesh Pathania, who was moved to the Fatehpur Assembly segment. The switching of seats benefited the BJP in Nurpur, as Nikka won the seat by a big margin. However, Pathania, who was considered a strong candidate from Nurpur, lost the elections from Fatehpur to Congress candidate Bhawani Singh Pathania.

Nadda deciding to visit Nurpur is being seen as an indication of Nikka’s growing clout in Kangra district. Jai Ram Thakur will also address the rally in Nurpur.

Nadda’s visit comes at a time when the race for the BJP ticket from the Kangra parliamentary seat has already begun. There is speculation that the BJP is unlikely to again field sitting Kangra MP Kishan Kapoor in the next Lok Sabha elections.

However, Kapoor is not willing to call it the day and wants to contest the next elections. “I won the last Lok Sabha elections from Kangra by a record margin of 4.70 lakh votes, which was the second highest in the country. I have a spotless political career,” he says. Other ticket aspirants are likely to meet Nadda to present their candidature for the Kangra seat.