Kangana Ranaut is first woman BJP candidate from Himachal Pradesh
Abhinav Vashisht
Kullu, March 31
The BJP has fielded a woman candidate for the first time in the Lok Sabha elections from Himachal Pradesh. Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut has jumped into the fray from Mandi parliamentary constituency as the first woman BJP candidate from Himachal.
Earlier, Bimla Kashyap Sood of the BJP was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Himachal in 2010 and Indu Goswami in 2020. Since 1956, five women candidates from the Congress had made it to the Rajya Sabha from Himachal — Lila Devi in 1962, Satyavati Dang in 1968, Usha Malhotra in 1980, Chandresh Kumari Katoch in 2002 and Viplove Thakur in 2006 and 2014.
The BJP has never handed over the post of president of the organisation in the state to any woman so far. However, Congress’ Viplove Thakur was the state party chief in 2006 and at present, Pratibha Singh, wife of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, is Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee president.
Mandi MP and HPCC president Pratibha Singh, referred to as ‘Rani Sahiba’ for being queen of erstwhile royal family of Bushahr, was also no longer reluctant to jump into the election fray from Mandi and has left the ball in the court of the party high command after a meeting of the coordination committee in Chandigarh on Wednesday. She had won the Mandi parliamentary seat thrice so far.
BJP candidate Kangana, referred to as Bollywood ‘Queen’, has also started her campaign. Now, if the Congress fields Pratibha, this electoral battle between a royal queen and a Bollywood queen is going to be interesting. Pratibha’s experience will be useful to the Congress while the Modi wave will run in favour of Kangana. Former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur’s political goodwill is also at stake for winning the Mandi constituency as he hails from the district.
Barring the last Lok Sabha byelections held in Mandi parliamentary constituency, all MPs from Mandi till date have never sat in the Opposition. In 2021 byelections, Pratibha Singh became the first MP from Mandi to sit in the Opposition from this constituency, otherwise the voters of Mandi have always gone with the ruling party of the country.
