Shimla, June 17
The ruling Congress party has decided to field Dr. Pushpender Verma from Hamirpur and Hardeep Singh Bawa from Nalagarh for the upcoming assembly by-elections, according to a press release by AICC General Secretary Venu Gopal.
These candidates were previously chosen for the 2022 assembly elections, reflecting the party’s confidence in their candidacies. The by-elections for Nalagarh, Dehra, and Hamirpur, scheduled for July 10, have been necessitated by the resignations of Independent MLAs KL Thakur, Hoshiyar Singh Chambiyal, and Ashish Sharma, all of whom are now contesting on BJP tickets.
Interestingly, BJP’s former candidates, Narender Thakur and Lakhvinder Singh Rana, who were defeated in the 2022 elections by independent candidates, expressed interest in contesting on Congress tickets. However, the AICC opted to stick with its previous candidates.
The upcoming by-elections are significant for Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, as victories could strengthen his political position following the recent rebellion of six Congress MLAs who cross-voted for BJP candidate Harash Mahajan. This defection reduced the Congress’s strength in the state assembly from 40 to 34, though the party managed to win four of the six seats in the June 1 by-elections.
Currently, the Congress holds 38 seats in the 68-member assembly, with the BJP holding 27 and three seats vacant.
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