HP bypolls: Congress fields Pratibha Singh from Mandi

The Mandi seat had fallen vacant after the death of Ram Swaroop Sharma, who had defeated Congress’ Pratibha Singh in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections with a margin of 39,796 votes, necessitating bypolls

The Congress on Tuesday announced that former MP Pratibha Singh will contest the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency in the upcoming by-elections.

The HP bypoll will be held on October 30; former MP Pratibha Singh has been fielded from the Mandi segment. (HT File)

The seat had fallen vacant after the death of Ram Swaroop Sharma, who had defeated Pratibha Singh in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections with a margin of 39,796 votes. Pratibha was first elected to parliament in 2004, after she defeated Maheshwar Singh, the scion of the Kullu Royal family. She also defeated incumbent chief minister Jai Ram Thakur with a margin of 1.36 votes in 2013.

Sanjay Awasthi will contest from the Arki assembly seat, which fell vacant after the demise of Virbhadra Singh. Meanwhile, Bhawani Singh Pathania, the son of former transport minister Sujan Singh Pathania, has been fielded from of Fatehpur. The seat had fallen vacant after the death of Sujan.

In Jubbal Kotkhai, the party reposed its trust in former chief parliamentary secretary Rohit Thakur, who was first elected to Vidhan Sabha in 2003. Rohit was re-elected to assembly in 2012 after he defeated the former horticulture minister Narendra Bragta.

Congress president Kuldeep Singh Rathore said the Congress was fully prepared for the four byelections that will be held in the state on October 30.

Taking issue with chief minister Jai Ram Thakur’s statement that Congress had no other issue other than inflation, Rathore said, “Inflation and unemployment are the biggest issues being faced by the people of the state and the country. The Congress will surely fight the polls on the issues, which affect the people the most,” he said.