BJP’s second list: Sitting MPs Anurag, Kashyap to contest Lok Sabha polls from Hamirpur, Shimla
Union information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur, son of former chief minister and BJP leader PK Dhumal, is a four-time MP from Hamirpur
The names of sitting MPs from Hamirpur and Shimla, Anurag Thakur and Suresh Kashyap, figured in the second list of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates released on Wednesday for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Union information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur, son of former chief minister and BJP leader PK Dhumal, is a four-time MP from Hamirpur and former BJP state president Suresh Kashyap would contest the Lok Sabha polls for the second time from Shimla seat reserved for Scheduled Caste.
There are four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh, Shimla, Mandi, Hamirpur and Kangra.The BJP is yet to announce its candidates for Mandi and Kangra seats. The Congress has not announced its candidates so far.
In the Parliament, Anurag has served as chairperson of the standing committee on IT and member of the public accounts committee. During the 16th Lok Sabha, he was appointed as the chief whip, becoming the youngest to hold the post. He also represented India at the parliamentary committee on World Trade Organisation and the steering committee. In 2016, he was commissioned as a regular officer in the territorial army at the rank of Lieutenant of the 124 Sikh Regiment, thereby becoming the first serving BJP MP to join as a regular officer. He was promoted to Captain in 2021.
An avid sports lover, Anurag has served as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and president Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA).
The BJP had won all the four Lok Sabha seats in 2019 with a thumping majority. BJP leader Krishan Kapoor won with a margin of 4,77,623 in Kangra, Ram Swaroop Sharma 4,05, 459 in Mandi, Anurag Thakur 3,99,572 in Hamirpur and Suresh Kashyap by 3,27,515 in Shimla.
However, the death of Ram Swaroop Sharma led to by-elections in the Mandi seat in 2021 and wife of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh and current Congress state chief Pratibha Singh won the seat by a margin of 8,766 votes in sympathy wave after the demise of her husband.
Kashyap started his political journey as a BDC member and He was later elected MLA for the first time from Pachhad assembly constituency in 2012. In 2017, he became MLA from the same constituency for the second time. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2019.