AAP may play spoilsport in 3 segments in Sirmaur, Solan districts

Ambika Sharma

Solan, November 9

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates may mar the prospects of both BJP and Congress candidates on three Assembly seats in Sirmaur and Solan districts.

The BJP represents the three seats — Kasauli, Nalagarh and Paonta Sahib. In Nalagarh, Congress sitting MLA Lakhwinder Rana had joined the BJP days before the elections were announced.

Manish Thakur, AAP nominee from Paonta Sahib, has been active for the last two terms. He was the state president of the Youth Congress, who had been vying for Congress ticket. He had joined AAP earlier this year. Though the outsider tag haunts him, he is popular among the youth and has made the contest triangular. He has the potential of mustering a sizable number of votes.

BJP’s three-time MLA Sukhram Chaudhary as well as Congress former MLA Kirnesh Jung, both are facing dissidence within their parties, could suffer owing to his presence. The BJP had won the seat by 12,619 votes in 2017.

In Kasauli, AAP nominee Harmel Dhiman, who was a member of national executive of the BJP’s SC morcha, can play spoilsport. He can prove more damaging for the BJP’s three-time MLA Rajiv Saizal as he has been active in the segment for several years. He was also a claimant for BJP ticket. Kasauli was among the low margin seats which was won by mere 442 seats in the 2017 elections.

Another AAP candidate Dharampal Chauhan, a former chairman of the Zila Parishad, is contesting from Nalagarh. He hails from the neighbouring Doon segment but he has chosen Nalagarh as his bastion.

The segment is facing a triangular contest where, apart from BJP candidate Lakhwinder Rana, Congress’ Hardeep Bawa and BJP rebel KL Thakur are pitted against one another. All three are capable of eating into others’ vote bank. Lakhwinder had hopped from the Congress to the BJP while Thakur is a BJP rebel and Bawa, being an outsider, is facing some opposition within the Congress. Chauhan can play spoilsport, especially for the Congress that had won the seat by mere 1,242 votes in the last elections.

Keen contest in Nalagarh, Kasauli, Paonta

• Dharampal Chauhan, AAP candidate from Nalagarh, can play spoilsport, especially for the Congress
• Manish Thakur, AAP nominee from Paonta Sahib, is popular among the youth
• AAP’s Kasauli nominee Harmel Dhiman can damage poll prospects of BJP MLA Rajiv Saizal