CM Sukhvinder Sukhu's wife Kamlesh Thakur, BJP's Hoshiyar Singh file nominations for Dehra bypoll

Shimla/Hamirpur: Kamlesh Thakur, wife of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, filed her nomination for the Dehra assembly bypoll on Friday and called herself the "daughter of Dehra".

Other prominent leaders who submitted their nomination papers include Pushpendra Verma, Congress' nominee for the Hamirpur by-election seat, and former Independent MLA Hoshiyar Singh, BJP's candidate for Dehra.

The deadline for filing of nominations for three assembly bypoll seats in Himachal Pradesh ended on Friday.

"I am the daughter of Dehra and have full confidence that the people of Dehra would ensure my victory", Thakur, who was accompanied by her husband, said after filing her nomination.

Seeking people's blessings, she mentioned that there is a custom in Hamirpur and Kangra that the parents don't send their daughters empty-handed.

"For years, people have been saying 'Dehra, koi nahin tera' (Dehra, no one is yours) but I am saying 'Dehra mera hai aur Mai Dehra ki' (Dehra is mine and I am Dehra's)", the Congress candidate, who hails from the constituency, said.

The by-elections for three assembly seats of Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagarh which fell vacant after the resignation of three Independent MLAs will be held on July 10.

These MLAs had voted in favour of the BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan along with six Congress rebels on February 27 in the Rajya Sabha polls and later joined the BJP on March 23.

Addressing an election rally in Dehra, Sukhu had attacked BJP candidate Hoshiyar Singh and the other two Independents for resigning from the state assembly and said that these Independents sold their souls to the saffron party and purchased the lotus (BJP's party symbol) but it would not bloom.

Sukhu asked former chief minister Jai Ram Thakur to stop daydreaming about forming a BJP government in the state and reminded him about the nine BJP MLAs who could face the "sword of disqualification" for their alleged unruly conduct during the Budget session.

He said the "Operation Lotus" of the BJP has failed in Himachal Pradesh and the Congress now has a stable government with 38 MLAs.

He claimed that if elections are held in nine more constituencies following disqualification of the BJP MLAs, the saffron party would be able to retain only one or two seats, and the strength of the Congress would surge to 50.

Meanwhile, Jai Ram Thakur accompanied the party's Dehra bypoll candidate to the nomination centre and addressed a rally, during which he said, "Sukhu wants to function as dictator but people will not accept it." "The chief minister is himself responsible for the prevailing political situation in the state and his own ministers, MLAs and leaders turned against him due to his dictatorial style of functioning," the leader of the opposition in the Himachal Pradesh assembly said.

Alleging misuse of official machinery by the government, he said it was unfortunate that the biggest political party of the world (BJP) did not get permission to conduct the rally on a public ground and had to organise it on the road.

He also cautioned that BJP workers in the state would not be cowed down and will face such dictatorial actions with full might.

Hoshiyar Singh has worked dedicatedly for the development of Dehra constituency and people will elect him for the third time, the BJP leader claimed.

Besides Chief Minister Sukhu, his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri, cabinet ministers, state Congress chief Pratibha Singh accompanied Thakur to the nomination centre.

Party leader Rajesh Sharma, who had expressed resentment after denial of party ticket, was also present during the filing of papers by Thakur. Sharma, the defeated Congress candidate from Dehra in the 2022 assembly polls, said Thakur was like an elder sister and pledged full support to her.

Earlier in the day, Sukhu accompanied Congress' Hamirpur bypoll candidate Pushpendra Verma to the nomination centre.

The chief minister also held a rally there, during which he dubbed BJP's candidate and former Independent MLA Ashish Sharma as the "biggest mining mafia" possessing five or six stone-crushers.

The government would not allow public wealth to be looted and all the backdoor channels of corruption would be plugged, he said.