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Himachal bypoll: Posters calling Kripal Parmar an outsider crop up in Fatehpur segment
Fatehpur is among the three assembly segments and one parliamentary constituency in the Himachal bypoll on October 30; the posters against Kripal Parmar reflect factionalism in the BJP
With politics heating up in Himachal Pradesh ahead of the byelections, posters have cropped up against former Rajya Sabha member Kripal Parmar,a front-runner for BJP’s ticket in Fatehpur assembly segment of Kangra district.
Fatehpur is among the three assembly segments and one parliamentary constituency going to polls on October 30.
The byelection to the constituency was necessitated after the death of former Congress minister Sujan Singh Pathania, who represented Fatehpur in the current assembly, in February due to prolonged illness.
The posters, calling Parmar an ‘outsider’, were put up in the streets and in front of the BJP’s local office at Rehan town by some unknown people on Monday night. Slogans like ‘Kripal Parmar Go Back,’ ‘People of Fatehpur will not accept an outsider’ and “Abki Bar Chakki Par’ (This time will send him across Chakki River) were written on posters.
The slogans are a veiled reference to Parmar’s hometown Pathankot in Punjab. Chakki River forms the boundary between Punjab and Himachal. The incident also indicates that the local BJP unit is plagued with factionalism.
Earlier too, similar posters had cropped up when he fought the 2017 assembly elections from Fatehpur. Parmar, who is currently the Himachal BJP vice-president, had lost to Congress’ Sujan Singh Pathania by a small margin of 1,284 votes.
The main reason for his loss was infighting in the Fatehpur BJP unit. Party leader Baldev Thakur had contested as an independent and secured more than 13,000 votes while former BJP MP Rajan Sushant had polled over 6,200 votes.
Interestingly, the slogan “Abki Bar Chakki Par” was coined by the BJP against Congress veteran Sat Mahajan who would contest from Nurpur.
Parmar said his detractors don’t want him to be politically active in the constituency even though he has been living in Fatehpur for many years.
The BJP has sent three names including Kripal Parmar, Baldev Thakur and Rita Thakur to the party high command for a final selection.
Parmar is being touted as the strongest contender as he has the backing of national as well as state leadership given his close relationship with Prime Minister Narender Modi. Congress has declared Sujan Singh’s son Bhawani Singh Pathania as a candidate from Fatehpur.
