BJP FIELDS SIX CONG REBELS IN HP ASSEMBLY BYPOLLS

BJP on Tuesday named six disqualified Congress MLAs as its candidates for Himachal Pradesh Assembly bypolls, scheduled to be held on June one with the Lok Sabha elections in the state.

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BJP nominated the six former MLAs from the same seats they held as Congress members before their disqualification from the House last month.

Sudhir Sharma has been fielded from Dharamshala, Ravi Thakur from Lahaul and Spiti, Rajinder Rana from Sujanpur, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal from Barsar, Chetanya Sharma from Gagret and Devinder Kumar Bhutto from Kutlehar.

All six of them switched over to the BJP from Congress on March 23, nearly a month after being disqualified from the House for defying a party whip to be present and vote in favour of the Congress-led government during the cut motions and budget.

Among the names announced by the BJP, Sudhir Sharma is a four-term MLA and former minister while Rajinder Rana defeated former chief minister and BJP candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal in 2017.

Three-time legislator Lakhanpal is a former chief parliamentary secretary, while Ravi Thakur, a two-time legislator, is a former chairman of the state Congress Seva Dal and ex-vice chairperson of the National Commission for Schedule Tribes.

Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto are first-time MLAs.