CPM releases list of 11 candidates, fields Tikender Panwar from Shimla urban

The CPM has so far announced candidates for 12 seats, with Rakesh Singha, the party’s sole legislator in the state assembly, contesting from Theog

Communist Party of India (Marxist) has fielded former deputy mayor Tikender Singh Panwar as its candidate for the prestigious Shimla (Urban) seat, which the party had last won three decades ago in 1993.

CMP  has fielded former deputy mayor Tikender Singh Panwar as its candidate for the prestigious Shimla (Urban) seat, which the party had last won three decades ago in 1993 (HT File)

It has fielded lone legislator Rakesh Singha from Theog, Kuldeep Singh Tanwar from Kasumpti, Vishal Shankta from Jubbal-Kotkhai, Devki Nand from Anni, Kishori Lal from Karsog, Mahender Rana from Seraj, Hotam Singh Sonkhla from Kullu, Kushal Bhardwaj from Jogindernagar, Kashmir Singh Thakur and Hamirpur, and Ashish Kumar from Pachhad.

The CPI (M), which has a considerable support base in some pockets of Himachal, has so far announced candidates for 11 seats. The party had announced first list of candidates on September 21.

Panwar had been elected deputy mayor of Shimla in 2012, the first and last direct election for the post. As the Shimla deputy mayor, the 51-year-old was credited with initiating hazard vulnerability risk assessment, city resilience Index, a comprehensive mobility plan, city sanitation plan, and the Smart City project.

Panwar joined the student movement in 1988 and served in the state leadership of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI). He was state secretary and national vice-president of the youth organisation DYFI, president of the Himachal Kisan Sabha, and a member of the CPI(M) State Secretariat.