Maheshwar's son to contest as Independent

Abhinav Vashisht

Kullu, October 20

Hiteshwar Singh, son of former MP Maheshwar Singh, has decided to contest Assembly elections from Banjar as an Independent candidate. He was seeking ticket from Banjar but the BJP again fielded sitting MLA Surender Shourie. The BJP has given ticket to his father Maheshwar Singh, a descendant of the erstwhile rulers of Kullu, from the Kullu Sadar seat.

Hiteshwar said today that on the appeal of his supporters, he had decided to contest the elections as an Independent candidate, making it a triangular fight in Banjar. Former minister Khimi Ram Sharma is the Congress candidate.

Hiteshwar had remained a Zila Parishad (ZP) member from Raila ward in Banjar. He can make a dent in the BJP’s vote bank and make the going tough for Shourie.

Meanwhile, Shourie filed his nomination papers from Banjar today. Later, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur along with Shourie addressed a public meeting in the constituency.

Aditya Vikram Singh, who is the son of Maheshwar Singh’s younger brother Karan Singh, had joined the BJP yesterday. He is now supporting Shourie. He was the Congress candidate from Banjar in the 2017 Assembly elections and lost to Shourie by 3,240 votes.

Kullu Sadar MLA Sunder Singh Thakur also filed his nomination from Kullu Sadar. He had defeated Maheshwar Singh in the 2017 elections by 1,538 votes.