BJP may face rebellion at Darang, Jogindernagar

Dipender Manta

Retaining the Darang constituency in Mandi district is a tough task for the BJP where its candidate will fight senior Congress leader Kaul Singh Thakur. The BJP has given party ticket to Puran Chand Thakur, a Congress rebel, who had joined the BJP after the last Assembly elections. The BJP denied ticket to sitting MLA Jawahar Thakur, who can now rebel against the party.

The BJP had promised to start the salt production in Darang and Gumma mines in the district on a large scale, in which thousands of locals would get employment. In 2017, Hindustan Salt Limited had started digging to extract salt from the mines at Darang but the project could not make much progress.

Another project was the construction of the Bhubhu Jot tunnel to provide road connectivity between Kullu and Mandi via the Lug valley to reduce the travelling distance between Kullu and Jogindernagar by nearly 57 km. But no progress has been made to execute the road project. Poor road conditions, lack of irrigation facility and low power voltage in villages are other issues.

This constituency was dominated by Kaul Singh since 1977. He was elected as an MLA eight times. He was elected first time on Janata party ticket. In 1982 and 1985, he contested on Congress ticket and won. In 1990, Dina Nath elected as a BJP MLA. Since then, Kaul had won the elections on Congress ticket. In 2017, the BJP’s Jawahar Thakur won the election. The Congress has given ticket to Kaul Singh, while the BJP to Puran Chand Thakur.

Triangular contest on cards

In Jogindernagar, there will be a triangular contest. The BJP has given ticket to MLA Prakash Rana, while the CPM to Kushal Bhardwaj. Prakash Rana had won last time as an independent. Later, he joined the BJP. From the Congress, Surender Pal, Rakesh Chauhan, Jeevan Thakur and Sanjiv Bhandari are aspirants.

After denying BJP ticket to former minister Gulab Singh Thakur, the BJP could face factionalism. Poor health, transport, power and water supply in villages are key poll issues. There was a proposal to set up a bus stand, workshop, a mushroom plant at Ladbharol, ayurveda hospital and Kendriya Vidyalaya, but the party could not materialise the projects.

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