Himachal Bypoll: Speculation over BJP fielding 2 Congress rebels heats up politics

Rajesh Sharma

Una, March 19

Political uncertainty has taken center stage in Una district after the Supreme Court yesterday refused to stay the disqualification of the six Congress MLAs. The political dilemma was also evident among the people of the Kutlehar and Gagret Assembly segments in Una district after the Vidhan Sabha Speaker disqualified the six Congress rebels.

Two of the six Congress rebels are from Una district, both first-time MLAs. Devinder Kumar Bhutto, once a BJP worker, had defeated four-time MLA Virender Kanwar from the Kutlehar seat while Chaitanya Sharma had defeated sitting BJP MLA Rajesh Thakur from Gagret in the 2022 Assembly elections.

Amid speculation that Bhutto and Sharma may fight the Assembly byelections on the BJP ticket, politics has started polarising in their constituencies.

Kanwar, who was a minister in the Jai Ram Thakur government, had lost to Bhutto by a margin of 7,579 votes. On a seat where the Congress had lost elections continuously for the past three decades, mainly due to infighting in the party’s ranks and file, Bhutto had not only managed to garner support of all splinter groups but also made inroads into the BJP vote bank because of his earlier association with the party.

Chaitanya, the youngest MLA in the current Vidhan Sabha, had defeated Rajesh Thakur by a margin of 15,685 votes. However, both Congress MLAs were among the six MLAs disqualified from the Vidhan Sabha and the Supreme Court had also rejected their request for a stay on their disqualification.

Rajesh Thakur and Virender Kanwar have also begun frantic political activities in their constituencies. Kanwar addressed a public meeting yesterday, brandishing banners with photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur, praising their performances.

First-timers, they defeated sitting MLAs

• Two of the six Congress rebels are from Una district, both first-time MLAs. Devinder Kumar Bhutto, once a BJP worker, had defeated four-time MLA Virender Kanwar from the Kutlehar seat while Chaitanya Sharma had defeated sitting BJP MLA Rajesh Thakur from Gagret in the 2022 Assembly elections.
• Kanwar, who was a minister in the Jai Ram Thakur government, had lost to Devinder Bhutto by a margin of 7,579 votes
• Chaitanya, the youngest MLA in the current Vidhan Sabha, had defeated Rajesh Thakur by a margin of 15,685 votes
• Rajesh Thakur and Virender Kanwar have also begun frantic political activities in their Gagret and Kutlehar constituencies