42 years on, Nurpur MLA to sit in Opposition

Rajiv Mahajan

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NURPUR DECEMBER 11

After almost 42 years, the MLA of the Nurpur constituency will sit in the Opposition. The practice of electing MLA of the party, which forms government in the state, has been witnessed since 1980 in Nurpur.

Sat Mahajan sat in Oppn in 1977

• Sat Mahajan of the Congress had won the Assembly election for the first time from Nurpur in 1977 when there was pro-Janata Party wave. But he had to sit in the Opposition for about two-and-a-half years. After the collapse of the Janata Party’s government in HP, led by Shanta Kumar in 1980, no MLA from Nurpur had sat in the Opposition

BJP candidate Ranbir Singh Nikka has won the election with a record margin of 18,752 votes by defeating Congress candidate Ajay Mahajan.

The political history reveals that after the Emergency, when there was anti-Congress and pro-Janata Party wave in 1977 across the country, Sat Mahajan of the Congress had won the Assembly election for the first time from Nurpur. But he had to sit in the Opposition for about two-and-a-half years. After the collapse of the Janata Party’s government in HP, led by Shanta Kumar in 1980, no MLA from Nurpur had sat in the Opposition. There was a myth that people of Nurpur used to elect only candidate, who sat on the treasury benches in the Assembly.

Ajay Mahajan, son of Congress stalwart late Sat Mahajan, became MLA first time in 2012 and represented Nurpur from 2012 to 2017 in the Assembly whereas Rakesh Pathania, who won the election on BJP ticket after 14 years of political exile, was elected for the third time in 2017. He was elevated to a Cabinet minister in the outgoing Thakur government as Forest, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister. But just before three weeks of the Assembly elections, he had been shifted from Nurpur to Fatehpur and was lost to Congress candidate Bhiwani Pathania by a margin of 7,354 votes.

In the neighbouring Indora constituency, the Congress has won after 15 years. The Congress had lost the elections for the last three terms in a row. Malinder Rajan has defeated sitting BJP MLA Reeta Dhiman with a margin of 2,250 votes. The BJP rebels Manohar Dhiman, who got 4,442 votes, had paved the way to the victory of Congress candidate here.