BJP may field Anurag Thakur from Chandigarh parliamentary seat
Sandeep Rana
Chandigarh, February 26
Name of Union minister and four-time Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur is being strongly considered for BJP ticket from the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat.
Sources said in view of groupism and infighting within the city BJP, which has intensified amid the ongoing MC mayoral polls, the party said to have made up its mind to either have a new face or someone from outside for the seat. The party is also not in favour of fielding another celebrity from Chandigarh this time.
“Anurag’s name is not being discussed at the local level, but leaders at the Centre are involved in deliberations to this effect. At present, he is the top contender from here. Discussions to field actress Kangana Ranaut from Chandigarh were also held earlier. However, the party is not in favour of fielding another celebrity from UT,” the sources added.
The talk of likely defection of Congress MLA from Sujanpur (HP) constituency Rajinder Rana to the saffron party and his name being considered for LS ticket from Hamirpur in place of Thakur was also doing the rounds here. Rana had defeated Anurag’s father and BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal from Sujanpur in the HP Assembly elections in 2017.
Apart from Anurag, who is Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, and Youth and Sports Affairs, former city BJP presidents Sanjay Tandon and Arun Sood, former MP Satya Pal Jain, ex-Mayor Anup Gupta and others are contenders for LS ticket from here. The BJP will wait for the Congress to announce its candidate for the Chandigarh seat before taking a final decision.
Manthri takes local leaders’ views
Meanwhile, Manthri Srinivasulu, general secretary (organisation), Punjab and Chandigarh, along with president Jatinder Pal Malhotra, held one-on-one meetings with local leaders and councillors at the BJP’s office and Morni to know about their choice of candidate for the Chandigarh LS seat. Tandon and Sood were among those who were called for the meeting.
