Rebellion in HP BJP, ex-minister quits after 6 Congress rebels picked for bypolls

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, March 26

A former BJP minister in Himachal today resigned as rebellion erupted in the party rank and file after the top leadership fielded all six disqualified Congress legislators for the June 1 Assembly byelections. The moment the BJP’s list of candidates for the Assembly byelections was released today, party leaders vented anger against the move to field the six Congress rebels who had recently joined the saffron party.

Anticipating such a reaction, the party top brass had deputed senior leaders to accompany the six nominees — Sudhir Sharma (Dharamsala), Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur), Ravi Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti), Inder Dutt Lakhanpal (Barsar), Chaitanya Sharma (Gagret) and Devender Bhutto (Kutlehar) — to their segments.

The BJP leaders who had unsuccessfully contested the 2022 Assembly polls were furious with the party’s decision. Former BJP minister Ram Lal Markanda announced his decision to quit, saying he would contest the bypoll as an Independent or on some other party ticket. He made this announcement at a meeting where the Lahaul unit of the BJP resigned from the party.

Similar scenes were witnessed at Gagret in Una, where Naina Devi MLA Randhir Sharma had to face the wrath of party workers as he accompanied bypoll candidate Chaitanaya Sharma. In Kutlehar, former BJP minister Virender Kanwar skipped the function, where former CM Jai Ram Thakur was present to welcome Devender Bhutto.

Former Mandi MP Maheshwar Singh also voiced his displeasure over the candidature of actress Kangana Ranaut from Mandi Lok Sabha seat. It appears that the BJP will have to labour hard to quell such rebellion against the move to pick rebel Congress leaders, who had switched over after cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections on February 27.