The Congress party is speculated to field Vikramaditya Singh, the Minister of Public Works Department and Urban Development in the Himachal Pradesh government, from Mandi seat.
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded actor-politician Kangana Ranaut from Mandi – one of the four seats in the hill state going to polls in the last phase on June 1.
Mandi seat is presently represented in the Lok Sabha by Vikramaditya’s mother, Pratibha Singh, who is also the state party president. Pratibha is widow of late Virbhadra Singh, who has been Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh six times. The mother-son duo met met Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on April 7.
Vikramaditya Singh, 34, the royal Rajput family of the princely state of Bushahr, was in the news in February after he resigned from his ministerial post in the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government. Singh, the MLA from Shimla Rural constituency, later withdrew his resignation.
Also Read: Meet Vikramaditya Singh, the royal who turns Congress rebel in Himachal Pradesh
Congress has decided to field Vikramaditya Singh after he was found to be more popular than his mother in the Mandi seat and has more appeal among the young voters, according to a report in Times of India.
The decision was taken after detailed discussions in the coordination committee meeting chaired by Himachal Pradesh AICC in-charge Rajeev Shukla, the Times of India report said quoting sources.
In an earlier meeting, the Congress had proposed the candidature of Pratibha Singh, who had won the byelection from Mandi in 2021. But now the Congress thinks her son can do better against Kangana Ranaut.
Also Read: Himachal Cong chief Pratibha Singh lauds BJP, says ‘they work better than us’
The BJP has announced names of the candidates from Himachal Pradesh. The Congress is expected to release the name of candidates from Himachal Pradesh after the central election committee meeting scheduled this week.
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Published: 08 Apr 2024, 10:01 AM IST