Ready to contest Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat as Congress nominee: Satpal Raizada

Our Correspondent

Una, April 1

Member of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee and former Una MLA Satpal Raizada today said that he would be happy to contest as the party candidate from Hamirpur parliamentary seat if the high command decides ticket in his favour.

‘BJP tried to destabilise govt’

• Raizada had represented Una Sadar Assembly segment from 2017 to 2022 when he defeated BJP stalwart Satpal Satti, who wrestled the seat back in 2022.
• He charged that the BJP had tried to destabilise the democratically elected government in the state by using unfair means.
• He said BJP candidate Anurag Thakur’s anti-incumbency wave is high since he failed to maintain rapport with the public during the last one decade.

Raizada had represented Una Sadar Assembly segment from 2017 to 2022 when he defeated BJP stalwart Satpal Satti, who wrestled the seat back in 2022.

Raizada today addressed a meeting of Congress supporters from Una Assembly segment here and asked them if he should contest the Lok Sabha seat. Party workers present at the meeting answered in the affirmative. District Congress president Ranjeet Rana and former district Congress president Varinder Dharmani also supported Raizada during their speeches at the meeting.

In his address, Raizada charged that the BJP had tried to destabilise the democratically elected government in the state by using unfair means to influence and win over sitting Congress MLAs. He said BJP candidate Anurag Thakur’s anti-incumbency wave was high since he failed to maintain rapport with the public during the last one decade. He said during the last 10 years of BJP rule at the Centre, no project, worthy of national level importance has been initiated in the Hamirpur parliamentary segment.

Raizada called upon Congress workers and supporters to be united in fighting the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha elections and Assembly byelections. He said the Congress vote bank had not eroded, but people got swayed by the false promises being made by the BJP. He said the BJP called itself the biggest political party, but Congress was a party of the common man.

Raizada said the BJP leaders had stated that Abhishek Manu Singhvi was not a Himachali and hence his candidature for the Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh was unjust. He asked the BJP leaders justify why their national president JP Nadda was the Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat and not from his home state Himachal Pradesh, adding that the BJP had double standards.

Avinash Kapila, secretary of the state Congress party organisation, Ravinder Sahore, president of the Una Block Congress and Vijay Dogra, District Congress spokesman, were also present.

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