In a move to strengthen its position ahead of the 2024 state Assembly elections, the Congress party has revealed its candidates for the three upcoming bypolls in Himachal Pradesh. For the Nalagarh seat, the party has fielded Hardeep Bawa, while Dr Pushpendra Verma will contest from Hamirpur. The Congress is yet to declare its candidate for the Dehra seat.
The bypolls have been necessitated following the resignation of three sitting MLAs from their respective Assembly seats earlier this year. Krishan Lal Thakur stepped down from Nalagarh, Hoshyar Singh quit Dehra and Ashish Sharma resigned from Hamirpur – all three later joined the opposition BJP.
In the 2022 state polls, Hardeep Bawa narrowly lost to Krishan Lal Thakur from Nalagarh by over 13,000 votes. Similarly, Dr Pushpendra Verma was defeated by Ashish Sharma in Hamirpur by close to 13,000 votes as well. Both Congress candidates will be hoping to turn the tables this time around with greater public support.
The bypolls are scheduled for July 10th. It will be an important test for both the ruling Congress as well as main opposition BJP, ahead of the state elections slated for later next year. With the declaration of its candidates, the Congress aims to revive its fortunes in these seats and regain lost ground. However, it also faces a stiff challenge from the BJP which has fielded the three former Congress MLAs from their old constituencies.
