Himachal bypoll: Infighting continues to plague BJP, Congress

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, October 20

Fatehpur is witnessing a triangular contest with the Congress and the BJP battling infighting.

The constituency is undergoing byelection following the death of Congress MLA and former minister Sujan Singh Pathania. He was a prominent Rajput leader of Kangra district. He was elected as an MLA from Fatehpur in 2002, 2012 and 2017.

The Congress has fielded his son Bhawani Singh Pathania. Bhawani had been in a corporate job in Mumbai and was not in touch with the electorate. He has decided to carry forward the legacy of his father. He is banking on the sympathy of voters for his father, besides the issues of price rise and rising unemployment, to win the election.

The BJP has fielded Baldev Thakur, a local party worker. There was a campaign in the BJP to field a local candidate. Baldev is a ground-level worker that is his strength. However, he is also battling infighting. Baldev had contested as an Independent in 2017 against the party candidate Kirpal Parmar. He took about 13,000 votes and Kirpal lost by a narrow margin of just about 2,000 votes.

Kirpal was again lobbying for ticket but the party chose Baldev over him. Kirpal supporters have not forgotten Baldev’s role in the previous election. The BJP leader is demanding votes, claiming that an MLA of the ruling party can bring development in the area.

Rajan Sushant, former BJP MP from Kangra, was the third serious contender. Rajan had also represented the Fatehpur constituency in 1998 and 2007. He left the BJP just before the 2019 parliamentary poll and became the state chief of AAP. Now, he is contesting as an Independent.

Rajan has been working and holding dharnas in Fatehpur for the past six months. He is laying stress on the old age pension scheme implemented for 90,000 government employees recruited in Himachal after 2004. He has given up his pension to support the demand. His political fortune depends on the outcome of the byelection and he is leaving no stone unturned to win the battle.