Himachal poll: BJP’s first list out, U-turn on parivarvad
Pratibha Chauhan
Shimla, October 18
In a surprise move, the BJP has taken a u-turn on the issue of parivarvaad with sons of a minister and two former BJP leaders being given the ticket for the Assembly polls in sharp contrast to the saffron party’s earlier stand.
Contrary to expectations, the BJP has fielded Rajat Thakur (Dharampur) son of Jal Shakti Minister Mahender Singh, Chetan Bragta (Jubbal and Kotkhai), son of former Minister Narinder Bragta and Anil Dhiman (Bhoranj) son of former minister ID Dhiman for the Assembly polls.
Even Anil Sharma is the son of former Communication Minister Sukh Ram of the Congress.
The BJP on Wednesday issued the first list for 62 of the 68 Assembly segments after late night deliberations.
Sitting MLA from Sarkaghat Col Inder Singh has been denied the ticket from Sarkaghat in Mandi under the age criteria. Two ministers, Rakesh Pathania and Suresh Bhardwaj have been shifted from their seats of Nurpur and Shimla (Urban) to Fatehpur and Kasumpti. There are five women candidates in the list.
Interestingly, Chetan had been denied the ticket in 2021 assembly by-poll from Jubbal and Kotkhai following the demise of his father, Narinder Bragta, who was the Horticulture Minister at that time. Despite being the most formidable candidate, who would have got sympathy votes, Chetan was denied the ticket on the ground of dynastic politics.
The fact that he had been active with the youth wing and IT Cell of the BJP was also overlooked.
An agitated Chetan had jumped into the fray as an independent. He proved his mettle even though he lost as the BJP candidate Neelam was not just placed third but forfeited her security.
This had the BJP rethinking about its stand on dynastic politics.
Minister Mahender Singh was keen to ensure the electoral debut of his son Rajat and the party has acceded to his demand. Initially, both his son Rajat and daughter Vandana Guleria were keen to take over the political legacy of their father but finally the father chose the son to be his successor.
In a bid to change the tradition of no party repeating its Government in the hill state, the ruling BJP has diluted its stand on dynastic politics. While the BJP has been hitting out at the Congress for promoting dynastic politics, the saffron party seems to have taken a turnaround on the issue of parivarvaad .
The names of sons of a minister and three former BJP leaders figures in the list issued by the BJP.
The list was finalised after a meeting of the central Election committee, which was attended by PM Narender Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP National Chief JP Nadda and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.
