As the election commission issued notification for the elections, the Mandi parliamentary seat once again became the centre stage of politics.
The Mandi parliament segment is significant in many ways - it's not only the second biggest constituency in terms of area, but it has remained a battleground of royals.
The constituency gained prominence when Rani Amrit Kaur contested the elections from Mandi in 1952. Amrit Kaur was the daughter of Raja Harnam Singh, the heir of the princely state of Kapurthala. Amrit Kaur defeated Gopi Ram by a margin of 6,000 votes.
Mandi for the first time witnessed a high stake battle in 1957, when eighth king of Mandi - Joginder Sen Bhadur - defeated Anand Chand, scion of the royal family from Bilaspur.
Sen, who was a Congress candidate, polled 63 % of the total votes, while Chand, an Independent, got 36 % votes.
It was in 1962 that former ruler of the princely state - Raja Lalit Sen - who contested on the Congress ticket, was elected to Parliament. The constituency was represented by Lalit Sen again in 1967.
It was in 1971 that the Congress fielded Virbhadra Singh, scion of the royal family of Bushar from Mandi. Virbhadra Singh, who was just 34 when he contested the elections from Mandi, had polled 71.95% votes, while his nearest rival Mandhar Lal secured 16% of the total votes.
{{/usCountry}}It was in 1971 that the Congress fielded Virbhadra Singh, scion of the royal family of Bushar from Mandi. Virbhadra Singh, who was just 34 when he contested the elections from Mandi, had polled 71.95% votes, while his nearest rival Mandhar Lal secured 16% of the total votes.
{{/usCountry}}The chief minister contested the elections again in 1977, but in the anti-Congress wave he lost to Ganga Singh. It was again in 1980 that Virbhadra Singh was elected as a Lok Sabha member. He defeated Ganga Singh of the Janata Party.
In 1984, the Lok Sabha general elections did not see any royal contesting the elections. Former telecom minister Sukh Ram, who switched over from the state to centre politics, defeated Madhukar Singh of the BJP.
In the next elections in 1989, another blue-blooded royal Maheshwar Singh, erstwhile ruler of Kullu, entered the fray. Maheshwar contested from the BJP and defeated Congress stalwart Sukh Ram.
Maheshwar polled 50.36 % votes, while Suk Ram could only secure 44.33% votes. Sukh Ram bounced back in the 1991 elections and defeated Maheshwar Singh.
A few years later, Sukh Ram was expelled from the party after the CBI seized a large amount of money from his residence.
To prove his political dominance, Sukh Ram floated Himachal Vikas Congress - the party won five seats in the assembly.
Sukh Ram supported Prem Kumar Dhumal to form the alliance government.
In 1998, the BJP's alliance supported Maheshwar Singh. In these elections, the Congress fielded Virbhadra Singh's wife Pratibha Singh from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat.
Maheshwar trounced Pratibha by a margin of 1 lakh votes. In 1999, Maheshwar Singh retained the seat by defeating Kaul Singh Thakur of the Congress. However, again in 2004, Pratibha Singh defeated Maheshwar Singh by a margin of over 60,000 votes.
In 2009, Mandi again witnessed the battle of royals. Virbhadra Singh, who was legislator from Rohru, contested the elections from Mandi. Virbhadra Singh defeated Maheshwar Singh of BJP by a very small gap.
Virbhadra Singh was sworn in as steel minister. Later, he returned to the state. He was sworn in as chief minister for record sixth time. The Mandi seat fell vacant after his resignation.
Consequently, the Congress has now fielded his wife Pratibha for the third time.