Dharamshala set to witness triangular contest as Rakesh Chaudhary throws hat in the ring

This comes after the Congress party announced former Dharamshala mayor Devinder Singh Jaggi as their candidate. Rakesh Chaudhary, an OBC candidate, belongs to the Chaudhary community which holds a significant vote bank in Dharamshala. He filed his nomination papers, as his supporters flanked him in Dharamshala

In the upcoming by-polls, Dharamshala assembly constituency is set to witness a triangular contest as former BJP leader Rakesh Chaudhary filed his nomination papers as an independent candidate on Friday.

After resigning from the party, Chaudhary was eying a Congress ticket but was always open to contest Independently if he did not get the ticket. (HT File Photo)

This comes after the Congress party announced former Dharamshala mayor Devinder Singh Jaggi as their candidate. Rakesh Chaudhary, an OBC candidate, belongs to the Chaudhary community which holds a significant vote bank in Dharamshala. He filed his nomination papers, as his supporters flanked him in Dharamshala.

BJP has already announced Congress turncoat Sudhir Sharma as their candidate from Dharamshala making it an interesting battle between the three candidates. Notably, Rakesh Chaudhary resigned from BJP in March, after he was upset by the party’s decision to field Sudhir Sharma.

After resigning from the party, Chaudhary was eying a Congress ticket but was always open to contest Independently if he did not get the ticket.

Chaudhary contested the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections in 2022 on a BJP ticket from Dharamshala, but he lost to Sudhir Sharma who secured 27,323 votes. However, Chaudhary managed to get 24,038 votes.

This time, both the Gaddi community and Chaudhary community had shown interest in getting the Congress ticket for their leader. Nearly 30% of the total voters in Dharamshala belong to the Gaddi community and almost same percentage of voters are from the OBC community.

Few days ago, the leaders of the Chaudhary community announced that if the Congress denied a ticket to their leader, they would field their candidate Independently.

A local Congress leader said, “With Rakesh Chaudhary throwing his hat in the ring, his move is expected to affect the vote share of both BJP and Congress.”