Lok Sabha polls: Kangana, Rajeev are BJP faces from Mandi, Kangra

Earlier, sitting MPs Anurag Thakur and Suresh Kashyap were named as the candidates from Hamirpur and Shimla respectively

BJP has announced state vice-president Rajeev Bhardwaj and actress Kangana Ranaut as the candidates from Himachal’s Kangra and Mandi parliamentary constituencies respectively.

Rajeev Bhardwaj

Rajeev Bhardwaj is former chairman of the Kangra Central Cooperative Bank (KCC Bank).

Earlier, sitting MPs Anurag Thakur and Suresh Kashyap were named as the candidates from Hamirpur and Shimla respectively.

Kangana Ranaut was born on March 23, 1987, in Sarkaghat Mandi. She is a Bollywood actor. Kangana had recently participated as a keynote speaker in the social dialogue programme of Bilaspur and addressed the people of Himachal Pradesh.

Rajiv Bhardwaj is the current state vice-president of BJP and has been associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party for a long time. Rajiv Bhardwaj has also been the president of Kangra Cooperative Bank in the previous government. He was born on February 9, 1963, in Thame. He is originally from Kangra. He works as a personal physician.

There are four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh--Shimla, Mandi, Hamirpur and Kangra. The Congress has not announced its candidates so far.

The state will go to polls on June 1, on the day when bypolls for the six seats will also be held in the hill state.