Lok Sabha polls | Congress likely to field Vikramaditya Singh against Kangana Ranaut in Himachal’s Mandi constituency
The HinduThe Congress party’s choice of candidate for Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh is tied to its strategy of quelling factionalism in the State unit as well as provide stability to the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led government. The party is hoping that Mr Vikramaditya’s candidature would be able to paper over the cracks in the State unit, that have sharpened after the defeat of Abhishek M. Singhvi — the official Congress candidate in the recent Rajya Sabha election — due to cross-voting by six MLAs of the ruling party. Crucial bypolls By fielding Mr. Vikramaditya, the Congress high command would be looking to forge factional unity as the State government’s survival also depends on the outcome of the bypolls to the six Assembly seats being held together with the Lok Sabha polls on June 1. On the other hand, for the BJP, the rising rebel voices could be a spoilsport after it declared all the six former Congress MLAs as its party candidates for the bypolls,” Harish Thakur, professor and former chairperson at the Department of Political Science at Himachal Pradesh University told The Hindu.