Lok Sabha elections 2024: BJP fields Kangana Ranaut from Mandi

Kangana’s candidature did not come as a surprise to political observers. The actor, who is a self-professed fan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had been hinting at a career in politics for over two years now. She was also present at the Ram temple consecration.

A party insider said Kangana was a natural choice, given that she was born in a small town of Mandi district. Her great-grandfather, Sarju Singh Ranaut, was an MLA. Her mother, Asha Ranaut, retired as a schoolteacher from Mandi, and her father, Amardeep, is a businessman. Her mother had once said the family was initially a Congress supporter but had shifted to the BJP due to Kangana.

The nomination came a day after Kangana’s 37th birthday on March 23. The actor visited the Baglamukhi and Jwala Devi temples in Himachal to celebrate the occasion.

The nomination lays to rest the speculation about Kangana being fielded from Chandigarh, where she had studied at a school.

From 2009 to 2021, there have been three general elections and two by-elections on the Mandi seat. Congress has had a significant presence in these elections, winning three times. In the general elections of 2009, Virbhadra Singh, and in the by-elections of 2013 and 2021, Congress candidate Pratibha Singh was elected as the Member of Parliament from the Mandi seat.

In the parliamentary elections of 2014 and 2019, BJP emerged victorious with Ram Swaroop Sharma being elected as the Member of Parliament on both the times. However, in 2021, Ram Swaroop Sharma tragically passed away by suicide. Subsequently, in the 2021 by-elections, this seat went to Pratibha Singh of the Congress. Currently, out of the four Lok Sabha seats, BJP holds three.