Himachal CM Sukhu fields his wife Kamlesh Thakur for Dehra bypoll

Shimla: In a surprise development, the ruling congress has decided to field Kamlesh Thakur, wife of Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu as candidate for Dehra bypoll being slated to be held on July 10.

The elections at Dehra beside two other Assembly constituencies was necessitated by resignation of three independents – Hoshiar Singh (Dehra), K L Thakur (Nalagarh) and Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur) ,who have joined the BJP and are re-contesting their constituencies.

Kamlesh Thakur, a home maker will be entering the electoral contest in Himachal Pradesh for the first time.

Only earlier, an example of sitting Chief Minister fielding his wife in the poll pertains to Virbhadra Singh, a six-time CM, whose wife Pratibha Singh had contested Mandi Lok Sabha

constituency for the first time in 2004. A three-time MP, Pratibha Singh, did not contest Mandi LS this time as instead her son Vikramaditya Singh, a sitting Cabinet minister contested the poll but lost to bollywood celebrity Kangana Ranaut.

Kamlesh Thakur’s name has been circulating for some time, even during the Hamirpur LS poll. However, Sukhu kept his plans secret, waiting for the right moment to field his wife in the state Assembly, marking the entry of yet another political family into politics.

She will be facing Hoshiar Singh of the BJP, a two-time independent MLA, who could not get the BJP in any of earlier elections in 2017 and 2022 but now, finally goes to the bypoll as BJP man.

Dehra falls in Kangra district but happens to be under the Parliamentary constituency of Hamirpur which has elected Anurag Thakur for the fifth time. In 2012, Ravinder Singh Ravi of the BJP was elected from here while Independent candidate Hoshiyar Singh was elected twice in 2017 and 2022.

Earlier , the Congress had also declared the names of Pushpinder Verma from Hamirpur and five-time Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) president of the Himachal unit, Hardeep Singh Baba, from Nalagarh.

Bada and Verma will face their old rivals K L Thakur and Ashish Sharma, who had defeated them in the 2022 Assembly polls as independents respectively.