Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's wife Kamlesh Thakur to contest assembly bypoll from Dehra

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's wife Kamlesh Thakur will contest the forthcoming assembly bypoll from Dehra constituency in the state.

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal released the list after approval from party chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday.

Kamlesh Thakur's name was finalised after a survey conducted by the party and feedback from the local leaders. She hails from Dehra assembly constituency and will face two-time Independent MLA Hoshiyar Singh, who is contesting on a BJP ticket.

The Dehra constituency was carved out after delimitation in 2010. So far, the Congress has never won from this seat. In 2012, Ravinder Singh Ravi of the BJP was elected from here while Independent candidate Hoshiyar Singh was elected twice in 2017 and 2022.

Earlier on Monday, the Congress had declared the names of Pushpinder Verma from Hamirpur and five-time Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) president of the Himachal unit, Hardeep Singh Baba, from Nalagarh.

Verma and Baba will face their old rivals Krishan Lal Thakur and Ashish Sharma, who had defeated them in the 2022 assembly polls as Independents.

The byelections to these three assembly seats, which fell vacant after the resignation of three Independent legislators who had voted in favour of the BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan along with six Congress rebels on February 27 and later joined the BJP on March 23, will be held on July 10.

Three Independent MLAs had submitted their resignation on March 22. Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathani accepted their resignation on June 3 after the Lok Sabha elections and the byelections for six assembly seats were over.

The BJP has already fielded all the three Independent MLAs -- Ashish Sharma from Hamirpur seat, Hoshiyar Singh from Dehra and K L Thakur from Nalagarh.

K L Thakur is a two-time MLA from Nalagarh. He won in 2012 on the BJP ticket and in 2022 as an Independent.

Hoshiyar Singh is also a two-time MLA, but from Dehra. He won the assembly elections in 2017 and 2022 as an Independent. Sharma is a first-time MLA from Hamirpur.