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All eyes on Dehra as counting for Himachal assembly bypolls to take place today
The Congress, which already had 38 legislators in the 68-member assembly, had gone on an offensive by fielding CM Sukvinder Sukhu’s wife Kamlesh Thakur from Dehra
The counting of votes for the bypolls held in three assembly constituencies will be held on Saturday to decide the fate of 13 candidates, including chief minister (CM) Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s wife Kamlesh Thakur.
The Congress, which already had 38 legislators in the 68-member assembly, had gone on an offensive by fielding Sukhu’s wife from Dehra.
The ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) engaged in a high stakes battle in the Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagarh assembly constituencies – where polling was held on July 10. Campaigning for these polls was intense, with rival parties launching daily offensives against each other, often overshadowing local issues.
The outcome of these three bypolls is crucial for the stability of the Congress government in the state and the Congress is confident of its prospects — especially after having secured four out of six seats in the recent June 1 by-elections.
The seats fell vacant after the three independent legislators — Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra), Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur) and KL Thakur (Nalagarh) — who had voted in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Rajya Sabha elections held on February 27, resigned from the House on March 22.
Sukhu had spearheaded the campaign for Congress and his wife Kamlesh Thakur, holding multiple rallies and public meetings on a daily basis. Making her electoral debut, Thakur takes on two-time former independent legislator Hoshyar Singh. The latter has secured wins from the seat in the last two assembly elections, defeating candidates from both the Congress and the BJP. The Congress never having won the seat, carved out in 2010, adds to the challenge for Thakur.
Harish Kumar Thakur of the political science department, Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), said the bypoll contest is interesting given that both the Congress and the BJP are equipoised as far as electoral outcome is concerned.
“It is all a contest between two rival Thakurs, Anurag Thakur, in whose parliamentary constituency two assembly seats fall, and CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, whose wife is contesting from Dehra. A Congress’ loss may hurt Sukhu more,” he said.
BJP dominated past
polls in Hamirpur
While Hamirpur is the home district for Sukhu, who represents Nadaun in the assembly, it is also the home turf of former Union minister Anurag Thakur, who represents the Hamirpur seat in the Lok Sabha. The Congress has entrusted faith in Pushpinder Verma, while the BJP has fielded former independent legislator Ashish Sharma.
The BJP has dominated the seat, having secured three consecutive terms between 2007 to 2017.
Since 1998, the Congress has managed to win the seat only once in 2003 when party candidate Anita Thakur secured the victory. The seat was also represented by BJP stalwart and former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal, who secured victory in the 2012 assembly elections.
Cong eyes Nalagarh comeback
In Nalagarh assembly constituency, Congress has tasked Hardeep Singh Bawa to end the reign ofKL Thakur, who is now contesting as the BJP pick.
In previous three assembly polls held in Nalagarh KL Thakur secured victories twice: in 2012 as BJP candidate and as an independent candidate in 2022. Congress has managed to win the seat in 2017 assembly polls.
However, with Harpreet Singh, son of three-time BJP MLA Harinarayan Saini, defying the party to contest elections as an independent, the seat is witnessing a three-way contest.
