BJP fields three former Ind MLAs for Assembly bypoll

Shimla, June 13

As expected, the BJP today gave ticket to all three former Independent MLAs, who had resigned from the Vidhan Sabha to join the party.

Two-time Independent MLA Hoshiyar Singh has been fielded from the Dehra Assembly segment in Kangra. KL Thakur, a former BJP MLA who had won the 2022 Assembly poll as an Independent candidate, has been fielded from his Nalagarh seat while Ashish Sharma, who was elected MLA from Hamirpur as an Independent candidate in the 2022 elections, has been from the same seat.

The announcement of the candidates for the byelections to the Nalagarh, Dehra and Hamripur Assembly seats was made after approval from the BJP Central Election Committee. The BJP Legislature Party and the BJP core group had met here yesterday to deliberate on the candidates for the three Assembly byelections for which polling will be held on July 10.

The three Independent MLAs had surprised all when they decided to resign from the Vidhan Sabha on March 22 to join the BJP the very next day. The three MLAs had resigned in the hope that the bylections in their segments would be held along with the parliamentary elections and the six Assembly byelections on June 1.

However, the delay on the part of the Speaker in accepting their resignations prevented the holding of simultaneous poll. Their resignations were accepted by Speaker Kuldeep Pathania on June 3 after polling for the parliamentary elections was held on June 1. The Congress has a strength of 38 MLAs in the 68-member Assembly while the BJP has 27 MLAs.

Had resigned from Assembly, joined BJP

The three Independent MLAs had resigned from the Vidhan Sabha on March 22 and joined the BJP in the hope that the byelections to their seats would be held along with the Lok Sabha elections and the six Assembly bypoll on June 1