TNR Desk
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Sunday (April 21, 2024) reached Dharamshala where he is expected to hold parleys with Congress leaders on the selection of candidates for the byelections to six Assembly seats, including Dharamshala, as well as the Kangra and Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituencies.
The aspirants for the Dharamshala Assembly bypoll ticket put up a show of strength as Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu arrived in the town. Sukhu has been holding a meeting at Paridhi Griha regarding the selection of the candidates for the Lok Sabha poll and Assembly byelections and to streamline the party organisation.
Rakesh Chaudhary, BJP candidate in the 2022 Assembly elections from Dharamshala who lost to then Congress nominee Sudhir Sharma by 3,285 votes, also met the Chief Minister. The bypoll has been necessitated by the disqualification of Sudhir from the Assembly. A former Congress minister, Sudhir has joined the BJP, which had fielded him in the byelection.
In 2022, Rakesh Chaudhary was considered a strong candidate against Sudhir but his winning prospects were spoilt by then BJP rebel Vipan Nehria. Nehria had polled 7,416 votes while Chaudhary got 24,038 and Sudhir 27,323.
Sukhu’s rounds of meetings will continue till the evening as he would be staying overnight in Dharamshala. The Dharamshala bypoll ticket claimants from the Congress, including former Mayor Devender Jaggi, Manoj Kumar, Rajneesh Padha and Vijay Inder Karan, were also present.
