Himachal elections: BJP’s Kinnaur candidate faces apple protests hurdle

Surat Negi will also have to overcome strife within the party if he hopes to wrest the seat from the Congress's Jagat Singh Negi.

Surat Negi hails from Bari village in Kinnaur. While pursuing a law degree from Punjab University, Surat became a union leader for the Akhil Bharathi Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). (Facebook/Surat Negi)

For Surat Negi, the BJP candidate in the reserved constituency of Kinnaur, apple protests, intra-party rebellion, and development are key issues. The ruling party has given the ticket to a local face with hopes to wrest the seat from Congress’s Jagat Singh Negi.

Surat Negi hails from Bari village in Kinnaur. While pursuing a law degree from Punjab University, Surat became a union leader for the Akhil Bharathi Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

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Negi went on to become the vice-president of Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha between 2007-’10. He was elevated to district president Kinnaur in 2010 for three years. The state government nominated Surat Negi as a member of the Tribes Advisory Council and in 2018 he was appointed as vice-chairman of the HP State Forest Corporation. The appointment drew ire from the political parties and following a petition from Jagat Singh Negi, it was stayed.

He faces tough competition in Tejwant Negi, who was suspended from the BJP for rebellion, following which, Tejwant chose to contest as an Independent candidate. Tejwant, once a loyalist of both BJP president JP Nadda and former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal, refused to be convinced by the party leadership and will contest on his own to dent the BJP’s chances. Negi has been expelled from the party for six years.

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