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in good number in the constituency. While the BJP, lenge for Jai Ram to retain all the seats.
Kangra is considered to house Gaddi’s He has been a thorn in the eye of many,
majority voters. Not only in Kangra, this being the ruling even in the party, for allegedly doling
community also resides in tribal area of party in both out big state projects to his constituency
Bharmaour in Chamba. This constitu- or home district Mandi.
ency may witness keen battle this time the Centre However, he has denied the charges.
as Shanta Kumar is out of race now. and State, faces Jai Ram told Tehelka that these are just
In Hamirpur, BJP has repeated its rumours aired by Congress leaders.
sitting MP Anurag Thakur, who is con- anti-incumbency in ‘’Modi government has sanctioned
sidered as most strong BJP candidate Himachal Pradesh, many projects for state and there have
among all the four seats in the state. He been equal distribution of funds for all
has already won this seat three times. the Congress is 12 districts. Previous Congress govern-
Anurag is considered as one of the most ment failed to brought projects and
promising young leaders in the BJP. plagued with even misused the money which was al-
Congress has fielded former minis- severe in-fighting located for the developmental projects
ter Ram Lal Thakur against Anurag. It of the state,” added the chief minister.
will be quite interesting to see contest Mukesh Agnihotri, leader of the
on this seat. Former BJP chief and three and three time MP Suresh Chandel also Opposition in state assembly, alleged
time MP, Suresh Chandel, was also try- joining the Congress, Ram Lal claims that Jai Ram government has failed in
ing to join the Congress and get ticket. that he is in better position this time. the last one year and people will give a
However, he could not succeed. The in- In Shimla, Congress has expressed setback to BJP in the coming Lok Sabha
ternal politics of the Congress blocked faith in MLA and former Congress elections. ‘’The BJP government have
his way as most of the top Congress Working Committee (CWC) member not even fulfilled its single promise dur-
leaders were against his entry in the Col (Retd) Dhani Ram Shandil. He had ing 2017 assembly elections,” added the
party. won on this seat in 1999 on HVC ticket. Congress leader. Polling in Himachal
Ram Lal had lost elections three This reserve constituency is also likely Pradesh will be held on May 19, the
times on this seat. However, Congress to witness a interesting battle this time. seventh phase. Top BJP leaders — PM
has again expressed faith in him. Few in BJP denied ticket to sitting MP Virender Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah,
the party feel that he may get sympathy Kashyap due to cases against him. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, star
of the voters for being rejected thrice. This election will be a first big test for campaigner Shatrughan Sinha are
However, BJP candidate Anurag Thakur Jai Ram Thakur who became chief min- likely to campaign for their respective
is a popular face in the area and it will ister in 2017. BJP had won all four Lok parties in the hilly state.
be interesting to see how Ram Lal coun- Sabha seats in the state in 2014 during
ters him. With former state BJP chief Modi wave. Now it will be a big chal- letters@tehelka.com

Tehelka / 31 may 2019 00 www.Tehelka.com