Himachal polls: BJP changes Kullu Sadar candidate after his son goes against party plan

Ahead of the Himachal Pradesh polls, BJP's changed its Kullu Sadar candidate on the last day of filing nominations.

The development came after the original candidate's son submitted papers as an independent against the party choice in the state's Banjar seat.

Maheshwar Singh was dropped by BJP after his son, Hiteshwar, filed his nomination as an independent candidate.


A party leader said that Narottam Thakur, a retired teacher, filed his papers as the BJP candidate in place of Maheshwar Singh.

According to reports, till 1 pm, it was not clear who will file papers for the seat.

Maheshwar Singh had earlier filed his papers on October 21 after he was declared the BJP candidate from Kullu Sadar. He, however, didn't receive the official letter confirming it.

As per reports, following the cancellation of his ticket, Maheshwar Singh called a meeting of his supporters in Bhuntar to chalk out future strategy.

Over 346 candidates filed their nomination papers on Tuesday for the assembly polls scheduled to be held on November 12, a state election department spokesperson said.

Eighty-one candidates filed their papers in Mandi district, followed by 72 in Kangra, 34 in Chamba, 35 in Sirmour, 29 in Shimla, 26 in Hamirpur, 23 each in Solan and Bilaspur, 19 in Kullu, three in Kinnaur and one in Lahaul-Spiti.

The data of candidates who filed their papers in Una district is being compiled, the spokesperson said.

With this, the number of candidates who have filed their nomination for the 68 assembly seats in the state has crossed 600.

The notification for the state elections was issued on October 17 and the last date for the filing of nominations was October 25. Scrutiny of papers will be held on October 27 and the last date for the withdrawal of papers is October 29.

Voting is scheduled to take place on November 12 while counting will take place on December 8.


With PTI inputs