E-Paper
Kin have edge as parties choose nominees for Himachal bypolls
Chetan Bragta of BJP and Rohit Thakur of Congress frontrunners in Jubbal-Kotkhai, while Bhawani Singh Pathania of Congress cleared for Fatehpur
The kin factor is evident as both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress zero in on candidates for the byelections to the two assembly seats.
The Fatehpur assembly seat, represented by Congress legislator and former minister Sujan Singh Pathania, fell vacant following his death due to a prolonged illness on February 12, while the Jubbal-Kotkhai seat fell vacant after former horticulture minister and BJP chief whip Narendra Bragta died of post Covid-19 complications on June 5.
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The BJP’s core group that met in Shimla last week to deliberate on its poll strategy shortlisted three names from Jubbal-Kotkhai, including Chetan Bragta, the elder son of Narendra Bragta. Besides Chetan, who heads the party’s IT wing in the state, the names of former Zila Parishad member Neelam Seraik and Dr Shushant Deshta were discussed.
To keep the rival faction in check, the BJP was quick to appoint state urban development minister Suresh Bhardwaj as the bypoll in-charge for Jubbal-Kotkhai even though he did not share good ties with Bragta.
Seraik and Deshta are considered close to Bhardwaj.
In the Congress camp, former chief parliamentary secretary (CPS) Rohit Thakur is the frontrunner for the Jubbal-Kotkhai ticket though a few leaders owing allegiance to former chief minister Virbhadra Singh are vying for the ticket.
Rohit, the grandson of Thakur Ram Lal, a former chief minister of the state, was born on August 14, 1974. He did his schooling in Shimla and graduated from Panjab University, Chandigarh. He was active in student politics during his college days. Rohit Thakur was elected to the assembly from Jubbal-Kotkhai in 2003, a year after the death of his grandfather. He lost the election in 2007 but bounced back with an emphatic win in 2012. He was appointed CPS, agriculture, in the Virbhadra Singh-led government in 2012. Thakur lost the 2017 assembly elections.
Stepping into his father’s shoes
The Congress has already finalised the name of Bhawani Singh Pathania from Fatehpur, the seat that fell vacant after the death of his father Sujan Singh Pathania. Bhawani, 46, studied at St Edwards and Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, before graduating from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, Delhi University, and doing diploma in management from Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad. He has been working in the private sector for the past 23 years.
