Himachal elections: For Vikramaditya & Vinod Sultanpuri, six-term family legacy at stake in Mandi, Shimla
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TNR Desk
After days of speculation, the Congress has fielded young MLAs Vikramaditya Singh and Vinod Sultanpuri from Mandi and Shimla (SC) parliamentary constituencies, the announcements made following a meeting of the Congress central election committee held in New Delhi on Saturday (April 13, 2024).
Vikramaditya (34) is MLA from Shimla-Rural seat and Sultanpuri (42) from Kasauli reserved constituency. By fielding two of its MLAs when the Congress government is already facing an existential crisis in Himachal following the rebellion and disqualification of six of its MLAs, the party has adopted an aggressive stance and put up a challenge before the formidable BJP.
For both Vikramaditya, who is also the PWD Minister, and Sultanpuri, it’s a battle to defend their family’s legacy as the respective seats were with them for six terms each.
Vikramaditya’s father and six-term former Chief Minister late Virbhadra Singh and mother Pratibha Singh, who is sitting MP and the Himachal Congress president, have won from Mandi thrice each. Virbhadra was the MP in 1971, 1980 and again in 2009. Pratibha won in 2004, 2013 and in the 2021 byelection. In 2021, Pratibha had defeated BJP’s Brig Khushal Thakur (retd) by a margin of mere 8,766 votes, the margin being lesser than 12,626 votes polled by NOTA.
Incidentally, only the Virbhadra family has been able to win the Mandi seat after former Union Minister Sukh Ram won in 1996. He had then left the Congress and formed his own party Himachal Vikas Congress, which he later merged with the BJP.
The Shimla (reserved) constituency also used to be a Congress bastion, electing party MPs consecutively from 1980 to 1998 and then again in 2004. Vinod Sultanpuri’s father late KD Sultanpuri remained the Shimla MP for six consecutive terms in 1980, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1996 and 1998.
“Considering the political legacy, the Congress has decided to field the two young MLAs from Mandi and Shimla. Believing in the efficiency of both the young leaders along with the traditional vote of the party, the Congress has prepared a plan to contest the Lok Sabha elections with full strength,” said Sushant Keprate, Congress spokesman.
