Hamirpur (HP), Apr 13 (PTI) Senior BJP leader Prem Kumar Dhumal campaigned for rival-turned-party colleague Rajinder Rana, one of the six Congress rebels who joined the BJP recently, for the bypoll in the Sujanpur assembly constituency.
Rana defeated Dhumal, the former Himachal Pradesh chief minister, in the 2017 assembly elections and won the seat again in the 2022 polls by beating BJP’s Captain Ranjit Singh.
Unlike Sukhu, Singh has revolted against the BJP and announced to contest the bypoll as an independent.
During a Dalit sammelan at Patalander organised by Rana on Friday, Dhumal urged the people to choose the BJP as it is the only party that works for people’s welfare.
Rana has joined the BJP and his victory must be ensured, Dhumal told the people belonging to the scheduled castes and other backward classes at the event.
Terming the Congress as anti-people, Dhumal exhorted the party cadre to keep their booths intact and ensure that maximum polling takes place on June 1. He said that each vote matters in such elections.
He cautioned people against voting for the Congress, saying if the opposition party wins, the nation would be doomed and facilities provided by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre would be withdrawn.
Rana said he was basically a BJP man and joining the saffron party was a homecoming for him as he realised that the Congress was not a people-friendly party but a party of few people.
He urged the people to rally behind the BJP and expose the evil designs of the Congress. Bypolls to the six assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh, which fell vacant after the disqualification of the rebel Congress MLAs, are being held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls on June 1.
Rana, a three-time legislator, was among the six Congress MLAs who, along with three Independent legislators, had voted in favour of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha polls on February 27.
All the MLAs switched to the BJP on March 23 following which the six rebels including Rana, were given tickets from their respective assembly seats. PTI COR/BPL RHL
