Shimla/Mandi, Nov 9
Seventy-six-year-old Thakur Kaul Singh, one of the faces of the Chief minister post in the Congress party, is facing his ‘protege’ and BJP’s Puran Chand (65) in the Darang Assembly constituency of Mandi district. The contest is direct, and Chand, backed by the saffron this time, secured 7673 votes as an independent in 2017.
However, the success of the ruling party’s strategy to replace sitting MLA Jawahar Thakur, who belonged to Snore valley of the constituency, is to be seen.
The vote bank of Snore valley may play a vital role in deciding the seat of Darang, informed a businessman at Aut. Since Jawahar is ignored, the valley might get softer towards Thakur, which might pave the way for his comeback in his bastion, he stated.
Kaul Singh Thakur belongs to Sambal village, and Puran Chand is from Badidhar. Though BJP has succeeded in managing Jawahar and Jyoti, who wanted to contest as BJP rebels; however, the results of the same can only be gauged after the vote counting is over on December 8.
Another cloth seller from the same area stated that Puran Chand was posing a solid contest. He explained that the number of votes of Darang valley and Snore are almost equal. However, since Thakur and Puran belong to the same region (Drang), Snore valley could be a deciding factor.
Kaul Singh Thakur started his political career as a Panchayat Samiti member and was also elected PS chairman. On the Janta party ticket in 1977, he made his debut for Assembly, re-elected in 1982, 1985, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2007 and 2012 on the Congress ticket. He remained Deputy Chairman State Planning Board (1983), Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, Speaker of Vidhan Sabha (1993–98) and Minister for Irrigation & Public Health, Law & Justice, and Urban Development(2012-2017). Due to anti-incumbency, Thakur Kaul Singh lost the 2017 assembly election from BJP’s Jawahar Thakur by a margin of 6541 votes.
An electoral of Padhar said that most of the people of Darang this time are with the Congress party. He noted that the father-daughter duo might script history getting elected for the Assembly together. His daughter Champa is also fighting the election from Mandi Sadar against BJP sitting MLA Anil Sharma.
Moreover, voters may not expect Thakur Kaul Singh to lose again, as he will get a cabinet berth if Congress makes it to power.
“Also, if the party didn’t spare HPCC Chief Pratibha Singh for the post of CM, she may come in favour of Thakur. After the death of Pt. Sukh Ram, return of Anil Sharma and his son Ashrya Sharma to BJP fold again. Pratibha Singh could trust Thakur Kaul Singh for the 2024 Lok Sabha election,” he added.
Another resident of Padhar said that if, after the Assembly poll, AICC does not prefer Pratibha Singh to be the new CM, then she would never like young turk like Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu or Mukesh Agnihotri to be CM. She may throw her political weight behind Thakur Kaul Singh in such a case, stated the Congress supporter.
Health, Education, Road infrastructure and employment are people’s issues in the constituency. Besides, employees said that OPS is their top priority. We would vote for OPS. Modi and Amit Shah’s magic ceased to act in the bye-election, and the same is happening again, stated a group of young voters at Aut.
There are 91525 total voters in the constituency, including 45668 male, 44696 female, and 1141 service Voters. Only three candidates are in the fray here, including a BSP, Ramesh Kumar.
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