TNR News Network
BJP MP Anurag Thakur, who has won consecutively for five terms from Hamirpur constituency in Himachal Pradesh and is the outgoing Union Minister for Information Broadcasting and Sports, hasn’t yet received the call for re-induction in the Narendra Modi cabinet 3.0, according to a report run by news website tribuneindia.com.
In case Anurag Thakur is dropped, Himachal Pradesh could be represented in the union cabinet by BJP national president JP Nadda, who is to relinquish his post soon. The news report, however, also said that Anurag could be given a significant organisational role.
But why is Anurag Thakur, a firebrand leader, being dropped at the first place? The issue is being widely debated in Himachal circles. While some say Anurag could be replaced so as to make way for Nadda’s entry in the union cabinet, others say it could even be due to the BJP’s loss in the Himachal Assembly bypoll. The BJP lost three of the four Assembly seats in the Hamirpur MP’s parliamentary constituency, but of particular concern is Sujanpur segment.
In Sujanpur, BJP’s Rajinder Rana lost to Congress’ Ranjit Singh, the latter having quit the saffron party on bypoll eve. Incidentally, Rajinder had defeated Anurag Thakur’s father and former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in the 2017 state polls, despite the latter having been declared the CM face by the BJP. Dhumal was the political mentor of Rajinder. The other seats that the BJP lost in Anurag’s home constituency are Kutlehar and Gagret.
The bypoll to six Assembly seats were necessitated due to the disqualification of Congress rebel MLAs, all of whom had subsequently joined the BJP and were nominated by the saffron party in the byelections. The Himachal BJP was looking to dislodge the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress regime and had aimed to win all the six Assembly bypoll.
