Hamirpur (Himachal Pradesh): Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting and BJP leader Anurag Thakur (49) is leading with decisive largin in his stronghold Hamirpur parliamentary seat.
He is leading with 1,78,056 votes proving a firm grip on the constituency that has a significantly high literacy rate. Congress rival and former legislator Satpal Raizada is fighting against Thakur.
Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh is BJP’s bastion from where Thakur’s father and two-time chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal was thrice elected as a Member of Parliament (MP).
In 2019, Thakur won with a record margin of about 4 lakh votes, with a vote share of 69 per cent.
Traditionally, the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat, made up of 17 Assembly constituencies, has been with the BJP since 1998, when Suresh Chandel was elected as the MP. He continued till 2004.
In 2007 Dhumal became the MP from Hamirpur but he later resigned to take over as the Chief Minister. This necessitated the bypoll and since 2008 Anurag Thakur has been the MP. His maiden electoral victory was at the age of 34.
Interestingly, BJP’s National President J.P. Nadda who has represented the Bilaspur (Sadar) Assembly seat three times, also falls under the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu and his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri represent the Nadaun and Haroli assembly seats that also fall in the Hamirpur seat.
Expressing full confidence that the BJP-led NDA government will be formed at the Centre for the third consecutive time under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Thakur said stability and continuation will ensure that India continues to move ahead in the world at a consistent pace.
“People have voted in favour of the BJP-NDA led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Himachal has always given a 100 per cent result in BJP’s favour and it remains the same this time as well,” Thakur told media in Hamirpur.
In every parliamentary election in the state, which witnesses a bipolar contest between the Congress and the BJP, Hamirpur has been witnessing more aggressive campaigning as compared to the other three Lok Sabha constituencies — Shimla (reserved), Kangra and Mandi.
–IANS