Dharampur MLA fails to get berth, Mandi residents upset

Tribune News Service

Dipender Manta

Mandi, January 8

Residents of Mandi district are a disappointed lot as the lone Congress MLA, Chander Shekhar, who won from the Dharampur Assembly constituency in the district, failed to get a ministerial berth in the first Cabinet expansion of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu today.

Defeated Rajat Thakur

Chander Shekhar defeated BJP candidate Rajat Thakur, the son of former Minister Mahender Singh Thakur, in the recently held elections.

Mandi district is politically significant, having the largest number of Assembly constituencies after Kangra. Mandi has 10 Assembly constituencies while Kangra has 15 Assembly constituencies.

Chander Shekhar defeated BJP candidate Rajat Thakur, the son of former Minister Mahender Singh Thakur, in the recently held Assembly elections. Of the total 10 seats, the BJP has won nine seats in Mandi, while the Congress won only one seat.

Not given due representation

It was expected that Mandi district will get a ministerial berth but it could not happen because Chander Shekhar is a first-time MLA. It will be political compulsion for the Congress to give due representation to the district to strengthen its base for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, which are due next year. DP Gupta, Political Affairs Expert

The people of Mandi were expecting that Chander Shekhar would be inducted as a minister in the Sukhu’s Cabinet. However, their expectations turned into disappointment when his name didn’t appear in the list of ministers inducted today.

People of the district are hopeful that Mandi will be given a due representation in the state government and Chander Shekhar would get a plum post in the state government in the coming days. Three posts of minister are still vacant in the Cabinet and the people are hopeful that Chander Shekhar would be inducted in the Cabinet soon.

OP Kapoor, a resident of Mandi district, said the people of the district were expecting that Mandi would get a ministerial berth in the expansion of the Cabinet. Rajender Mohan, another resident of the district, said the people were hopeful that Mandi district would get a due representation in the state government to ensure political balance in the district.

DP Gupta, a political affairs expert, said it was necessary for the Congress to give political power to Mandi to strengthen its base in the district where it had lost miserably in the recently held elections.

“It was expected that Mandi district will get a ministerial post in the expansion of the Cabinet but it could not happen because Chander Shekhar is a first-time MLA from Dharampur. But it will be a political compulsion for the Congress to give due representation to the Mandi district in the state government to strengthen its base for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, which are due next year,” he said.

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