Shimla: Lahaul and Spiti assembly constituency in Himachal Pradesh, where by-elections will be held on June 1, will see a woman contesting the election for the first time in 5 years.
If she wins, Congress's Anuradha Rana will become the second woman MLA to represent the seat in the assembly after Lata Thakur won the constituency for the oldest party in 1972.
Located in the Himalayas, the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh is somewhat of an anomaly. A barren and inaccessible area surrounded by high ranges, it makes up 25 percent of Himachal Pradesh's land area, but the assembly constituency, which covers the entire district, does, has only 25,967 voters.
In the bypoll, Rana - a firebrand leader and district council president - will take on Ravi Thakur, son of Lata Thakur, his predecessor, who won the seat for the Congress in the 2022 assembly elections before being disqualified from the House.Ravi Thakur was one of the six Congress MLAs who were disqualified from the Assembly for violating the party whip of being present in the House and voting in favor of the government. The disqualified MLAs later joined the BJP and were fielded from their respective constituencies on saffron party tickets. By-elections will be held in Lahaul and Spiti as well as Dharamshala, Sujanpur, Gagret Barsar and Kutlehar.
Turning the contest into a triangular fight in Lahaul and Spiti is former three-time MLA and state government minister Ram La Markanda, who is contesting as an independent after not getting the ticket from the seat.
Markanda resigned from the BJP after the saffron party announced its decision to field Ravi Thakur as its candidate and contest the by-election as an independent.However, this is not the first time that Ravi Thakur and Markanda have come face to face in the electoral arena, before this they have also faced each other in the assembly elections of 2012, 201 and 2022.
The BJP's decision to field Congress rebels from their respective seats has sent the party into turmoil and it is facing rebellion from local cadre in Lahaul and Spiti, Dharamshala and Sujanpur.
In the 13 elections held since 1967, Devi Singh Thakur represented Lahaul Spiti in the Assembly four times – in 1967 as an independent, in 1977 for the Janata Party, and in 1982 and 1985 for the Congress. Markanda three times in the Assembly Elected to – in 1998 as a candidate of Himachal Vikas Congress and in 2007 and 2017 for BJP.
Ravi Thakur won the seat on Congress ticket in 2012 and 2022.Congress's Phunchog Rai won the seat in 1990 and 1993, while Devi Singh Thakur's son Raghuvir Singh Thakur was elected in 2003. The six Congress rebels are facing attacks from Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, who is accusing voters of giving them "money They are appealing to "sell their conscience" and defeat the Congress for cheating.
However, Ravi Thakur hit back at Sukhu, saying the state Congress government has taken a loan of Rs 18,000 crore since assuming power in November 2022 and alleged that even party MLAs do not know where the funds are going.
Lahaul and Spiti is one of the 17 assembly constituencies under the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency from where the BJP has fielded actor Kangana Ranaut. Recently, the actress was seen campaigning with Ravi Thakur and former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur. When she reached Kaza in Spiti, she was shown black flags allegedly over a meme of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama which she had shared on social media.Local people demand greater connectivity and development and are conscious of the impact the Atal Tunnel, an all-weather road to Lahaul, will have on the area.
They are demanding a tunnel under the Shinkula Pass to connect Lahaul with Ladakh's Zanskar Valley and both the Congress and the BJP have promised to build more underpasses. BJP's Ravi Thakur said there will be issues related to drinking water, horticulture and religious and Their priorities are to provide irrigation of land for adventure tourism.
Markanda claimed that the budget of Lahaul and Spiti has been reduced by Rs 60 crore in the last two years and his focus will be on increasing subsidies for agriculture and horticulture in the district besides promoting tourism.
Rana said she will focus on promoting sustainable tourism, building roads to remote areas, providing irrigation to dry lands, developing infrastructure in disaster-affected areas and empowering tribal communities.In the 2022 assembly elections, 73.74 percent voting took place in the tribal dominated constituency. This figure was 73.70 percent in 2017, 75.68 percent in 2012, 73.80 percent in 2007 and 77.77 percent in 2003.
There are 25,967 voters in the constituency, of which 13,293 are men and 12,67 are women. Voting will be held simultaneously on June 1 for the four Lok Sabha seats of Himachal Pradesh and the state assembly by-election.
If she wins, Congress's Anuradha Rana will become the second woman MLA to represent the seat in the assembly after Lata Thakur won the constituency for the oldest party in 1972.
Located in the Himalayas, the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh is somewhat of an anomaly. A barren and inaccessible area surrounded by high ranges, it makes up 25 percent of Himachal Pradesh's land area, but the assembly constituency, which covers the entire district, does, has only 25,967 voters.
In the bypoll, Rana - a firebrand leader and district council president - will take on Ravi Thakur, son of Lata Thakur, his predecessor, who won the seat for the Congress in the 2022 assembly elections before being disqualified from the House.Ravi Thakur was one of the six Congress MLAs who were disqualified from the Assembly for violating the party whip of being present in the House and voting in favor of the government. The disqualified MLAs later joined the BJP and were fielded from their respective constituencies on saffron party tickets. By-elections will be held in Lahaul and Spiti as well as Dharamshala, Sujanpur, Gagret Barsar and Kutlehar.
Turning the contest into a triangular fight in Lahaul and Spiti is former three-time MLA and state government minister Ram La Markanda, who is contesting as an independent after not getting the ticket from the seat.
Markanda resigned from the BJP after the saffron party announced its decision to field Ravi Thakur as its candidate and contest the by-election as an independent.However, this is not the first time that Ravi Thakur and Markanda have come face to face in the electoral arena, before this they have also faced each other in the assembly elections of 2012, 201 and 2022.
The BJP's decision to field Congress rebels from their respective seats has sent the party into turmoil and it is facing rebellion from local cadre in Lahaul and Spiti, Dharamshala and Sujanpur.
In the 13 elections held since 1967, Devi Singh Thakur represented Lahaul Spiti in the Assembly four times – in 1967 as an independent, in 1977 for the Janata Party, and in 1982 and 1985 for the Congress. Markanda three times in the Assembly Elected to – in 1998 as a candidate of Himachal Vikas Congress and in 2007 and 2017 for BJP.
Ravi Thakur won the seat on Congress ticket in 2012 and 2022.Congress's Phunchog Rai won the seat in 1990 and 1993, while Devi Singh Thakur's son Raghuvir Singh Thakur was elected in 2003. The six Congress rebels are facing attacks from Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, who is accusing voters of giving them "money They are appealing to "sell their conscience" and defeat the Congress for cheating.
However, Ravi Thakur hit back at Sukhu, saying the state Congress government has taken a loan of Rs 18,000 crore since assuming power in November 2022 and alleged that even party MLAs do not know where the funds are going.
Lahaul and Spiti is one of the 17 assembly constituencies under the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency from where the BJP has fielded actor Kangana Ranaut. Recently, the actress was seen campaigning with Ravi Thakur and former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur. When she reached Kaza in Spiti, she was shown black flags allegedly over a meme of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama which she had shared on social media.Local people demand greater connectivity and development and are conscious of the impact the Atal Tunnel, an all-weather road to Lahaul, will have on the area.
They are demanding a tunnel under the Shinkula Pass to connect Lahaul with Ladakh's Zanskar Valley and both the Congress and the BJP have promised to build more underpasses. BJP's Ravi Thakur said there will be issues related to drinking water, horticulture and religious and Their priorities are to provide irrigation of land for adventure tourism.
Markanda claimed that the budget of Lahaul and Spiti has been reduced by Rs 60 crore in the last two years and his focus will be on increasing subsidies for agriculture and horticulture in the district besides promoting tourism.
Rana said she will focus on promoting sustainable tourism, building roads to remote areas, providing irrigation to dry lands, developing infrastructure in disaster-affected areas and empowering tribal communities.In the 2022 assembly elections, 73.74 percent voting took place in the tribal dominated constituency. This figure was 73.70 percent in 2017, 75.68 percent in 2012, 73.80 percent in 2007 and 77.77 percent in 2003.
There are 25,967 voters in the constituency, of which 13,293 are men and 12,67 are women. Voting will be held simultaneously on June 1 for the four Lok Sabha seats of Himachal Pradesh and the state assembly by-election.
