Shimla: BJP has given a ticket to Kargil hero and retired Brigadier Kushal Thakur against Congress leader Pratibha Singh from Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh, where byelections will be held on October 30 along with three assembly segments. While BJP leader Neelam Saraik will contest the by-polls from Kotkhai. Congress MP Pratibha Singh is the wife of late chief minister Virbhadra Singh.
Brigadier Khushal Thakur, a resident of Mandi's Nagawain village, had headed the 18 Grenadiers which not only hoisted the victory flag on Tiger Hill and Tololing but also laid the victory path of the Kargil war.
BJP has shown faith in Baldev Thakur, who contested as a rebel candidate in the 2017 election, but this time it has given him a ticket to the Fatehpur assembly constituency. While from Arki, Ratan Singh Pal-who lost to former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh by less than seven thousand votes-will contest for the saffron party in the by-polls. Ratan Pal Singh is currently holding the responsibility of BJP State Vice President and the chairman of State Co-operative Development Federation Limited.
Once suspended from the party, Neelam Sarkaiq has been given a chance to contest by-polls from Jubbal-Kotkhai on the BJP ticket. Sarkaiq has served as a Zilla Parishad for three-times. Apart from this, she has also been the president of the Shimla Mahila Morcha and has also worked as the state secretary of the Mahila Morcha.
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