Anurag Thakur, Vinod Sultanpuri and Suresh Kashyap file nominations for Himachal Lok Sabha polls

As the last date of filing nomination nears, three Lok Sabha candidates — two from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and one from the Congress — including Union minister Anurag Thakur, on Monday filed their nomination papers.

While Thakur, who seeks a fifth term as an MP, filed his nomination from the Hamirpur parliamentary seat, Congress and BJP’s Shimla candidates Vinod Sultanpuri and Suresh Kashyap also submitted their papers.

Thakur was accompanied by senior BJP leaders and his father, BJP veteran Prem Kumar Dhumal. His brother Arun Dhumal, the chairperson of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was also present. Before filing his nomination, Thakur paid obeisance at the Maa Awahdevi temple and addressed people at multiple locations.

“The public of Hamirpur have blessed me in the last four elections. As the situation on the ground seems, I am sure that I will win again. We will get all four seats from Himachal. We have a long list of achievements to show. We have carried out developmental work while Congress in the state has not fulfilled their promises in the last 15 months,” he said after filing the papers, adding that Congress was dreaming of winning this seat.

Battleground Shimla

In Shimla, the Congress candidate Vinod Sultanpuri reached the filing centre flanked by chief minister (CM) Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and party’s state unit chief Pratibha Singh. They were accompanied by cabinet minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, among others.

The Congress also held a public meeting in Shimla after Sultanpuri filed his nomination papers.

Addressing the public, Sukhu said, “I have visited all four parliamentary constituencies in the state. This is not a normal election. It is an election to save democracy and give the politics of the country a direction.”

The CM attacked BJP, accusing the party of “playing with the sentiments of the people”. “The rebel MLAs who joined BJP have also betrayed the public. When BJP could not form the government with the support of votes, they tried to topple the state government by money power. Now this matter is in people’s court,” he added.

BJP candidate Suresh Kashyap, meanwhile exuded confidence of winning after filing his papers, saying, “We are receiving a good response from the public and for the fourth time, people will once again repose confidence in BJP in Shimla parliamentary constituency.”