As Sukhu’s wife hits campaign trail, Himachal Congress divisions come bubbling up

A day before, on Tuesday, Thakur’s candidature was announced even though Sukhu said more than once that he was not keen on the ticket for his wife. Although Thakur has been an active member of the HPCC for around two decades, she will be making her electoral debut on July 19. In an attempt to end the conflict, she said at her first election rally on Thursday, “Dr Sharma is like a brother. We will soon settle our differences mutually.”

Thakur told reporters that there would be no lack of development in Dehra and added that “every issue in the constituency will be resolved with the help of the the CM”. She said Dehra was her maternal home and no daughter would want her maternal home to remain underdeveloped.

The constituency fell vacant after Independent MLA Hoshyar Singh Chambyal who won in 2022 resigned to join the BJP. He is the BJP’s candidate this time. The Congress candidate accused Chambyal of “betraying the people of Dehra” by siding with the BJP and thrusting this bypoll on the people of the area. As an Independent MLA, he could have served the people impartially but instead, he resigned after just 14 months, failing to bring any development to Dehra,” Thakur added.

Meanwhile, eyeing an opportunity to benefit from a possible rift in the Congress, BJP leaders wasted no time in reaching out to Sharma as a delegation led by Chambyal visited him. The former MLA alleged that the incident had exposed “Sukhu’s dictatorship” in the Congress.

“Whatever Dr Sharma said is true. He belongs to my rival camp but I would like to say that he is the only man who did everything for his party. By giving the ticket to his wife, Sukhu has exposed himself and humiliated Dehra’s women. There are approximately 40,000 women voters in this segment. Why did Congress choose Thakur instead of finding a suitable local woman?” the BJP leader asked.

Expressing surprise at Sharma not getting the ticket, a Congress leader said, “Dr Sharma met the CM in Shimla on Tuesday to discuss at length the party’s strategy for the Dehra by-election.”

According to state Congress insiders, Sharma was the front-runner for the Dehra ticket after Pratibha Singh strongly recommended his name. Singh declined to comment on the matter.

Congress leaders said that if Dr Sharma contests as an Independent, the party could be in trouble. The last date for filing the nomination papers is June 21. A senior Congress leader said, “Dr Sharma was earlier keen to contest the Lok Sabha poll from Kangra but the ticket went to senior party leader and four-time Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma who lost to the BJP’s Dr Rajeev Bhardwaj by more than 2.51 lakh votes. Although at that time Dr Sharma was not promised the Assembly bypoll ticket from Dehra, which he had lost in 2022, he was promised that his name would be considered.”

The Congress leader continued, “But circumstances were not in his favour this time. The high command decided to bet on Kamlesh Thakur as she is the CM’s wife. That doesn’t mean the local leadership was not kept in the loop about Kamlesh Thakur’s name being considered. Party in-charge Rajeev Shukla had informed the HPCC president in advance that Thakur would be the Congress candidate.”

The Congress functionary said, “Dr Sharma’s reaction was expected. We were also aware that the BJP would make an issue out of it. Still, it is the high command’s decision. Nevertheless, Thakur’s chances of winning are bright. Dr Sharma is a resourceful person, who had declared his net worth as approximately Rs 61.51 crore in his 2022 poll affidavit.”

Veteran Congress leader and Jawali MLA Chander Kumar, who is the party’s point person for the by-election, said, “I strongly condemn Dr Sharma’s behaviour. He is a sound man whose father Pandit Balkrishan Sharma was a senior party leader. The high command gave Kamlesh Thakur the ticket after considering many things. First of all, she is a Dehra native who was born and brought up here and has her maternal house in Dehra. Secondly, the Congress has not won this seat in a long time, because its candidate was an outsider every time. That includes Dr Sharma, who is from the neighbouring town of Kangra.”

In 2022, when the Congress stormed back to power in the state, Sharma lost the election to Chambyal by 3,887 votes. Before that in 2012, Sharma had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly election from Kangra as an Independent.