LS polls: BJP declares names of all 4 candidates for Himachal

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 23

The BJP on Saturday dropped two of its four sitting MPs in Himachal Pradesh, including veteran Shanta Kumar, for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. While Hamirpur strongman Anurag Thakur has been repeated, as expected, the BJP also re-fielded Ramswaroop Sharma from Mandi even though speculations were that he could be dropped.

Meanwhile, state Cabinet minister and Dharamsala MLA Kishan Kapoor has replaced Shanta Kumar in Kangra, the latter’s stronghold for decades, while another sitting MLA Suresh Kashyap has replaced sitting MP Virender Kashyap in Shimla Lok Sabha constituency.

Sources said the decision was taken on the basis of internal surveys and several rounds of discussions. Senior BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, state BJP president Satpal Singh Satti, former CM PK Dhumal held a series of meetings in Delhi to forge consensus on selection of candidates for the four Lok Sabha seats.

The names for the four Lok Sabha constituencies of Himachal Pradesh were announced by senior BJP leader JP Nadda this evening along with candidates for Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujarat and Karnataka.     

Sources said Kishan Kapoor had the blessings of senior leader Shanta Kumar, who himself had “chosen to opt out of the forthcoming general elections”.

However, speculation about Shanta being replaced were rife only after LK Advani had failed to find a place in the BJP list of candidates. A majority of the senior leaders were skeptical over Shanta’s candidature given the age factor.