Dynastic politics: BJP, Cong follow same path
SHIMLA/DHARAMSHALA: Like the national-level politics, the political inheritance is also counted in at state-level.
Following the trend, kin of former MLAs (member legislative assembly) and ministers have entered into the fray this time too.
If Congress is the flag-bearer of dynastic politics, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too is not untouched by nepotism.
The two top political families, including chief minister (CM) Virbhadra Singh and his predecessor Prem Kumar Dhumal are perfect examples.
For the assembly elections, both the Congress and the BJP have fielded relatives of their stalwarts. Two candidates with political backgrounds will make political debut including Ashish Butail (Palampur) and Vivek Sharma (Kutlehar). Ashish is son of Vidhan Sabha speaker Brij Behari Lal Butail and Sharma’s father is former deputy speaker Ramnath Sharma.
Chief minister Virbhadra’s son Vikramaditya Singh and health minister Kaul Singh Thakur’s daughter Champa Thakur are also in race from Shimla (rural) and Mandi segments respectively.
However, their tickets are not finalised. Youth Congress state president Vikramaditya is active in Shimal (rural), the segment his father represents. Champa Thakur’s name started making rounds after animal husbandry minister Anil Sharma switched over to BJP and was nominated from Mandi.
In Kangra, Congress has fielded Ajay Mahajan from Nurpur segment, son of former minister and veteran leader late Sat Mahajan. Party nominee from Dehra segment, Viplove Thakur is daughter of former Kutlehar legislator Sarla Sharma. Her father Paras Ram, a CPI leader, was also Himachal Pradesh assembly member in 1967.
Urban development minister Sudhir Sharma, in fray from Dharamshala is son of former minister Pandit Sant Ram. From Jaisinghpur, Congress nominee is Yadvinder Goma, son of former three-term legislator Milkhi Ram Goma.
In Chamba, Congress has nominated Asha Kumari ( daughterin-law of former MLA Devindra Kumari and Surinder Bhardwaj (Churah), son of former minister Vidyadhar.
In Sirmour, Congress nominee Harshwardhan Chauhan, son of former minister Thakur Guman Singh and Vinay Kumar (Renuka) son of seven-term legislator Dr Prem Singh will contest.
From Jubbal-Kotkhai segment in Shimla , former CM Ram Lal Thakur’s son Rohit Thakur is in fray.In Solan Vinod Sultanpuri, son of former six-time MP KD Sultanpuri, from Kasauli and Ram Kumar (Doon), son of former legislator Lajja Ram will fight in the elections.
Aditya Vikram Singh, son of former minister Karan Singh from Banjar segment of Kullu and Ravi Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti), son of former legislator Lata Thakur are the Congress nominees.
Meanwhile, BJP has only nominated four candidates with political background including Anil Sharma, the former Congress minister and son of veteran leader Sukh Ram.
Sharma, with his father recently switched to BJP. The saffron party has fielded Govind Thakur, son of former minister Thakur Kunj Lal from Manali and Narender Thakur from Hamirpur, son of BJP stalwart Thakur Jagdev Chand.
In Shimla, Vijay Jyoti Sen will contest from Kasumpti segment. Sen, sister-in-law of chief minister Virbhadra joined BJP few days ago. She had unsuccessfully contested 2012 elections independently.
There are few exceptions also including BJP veteran Shanta Kumar who has always stood against nepotism. Kumar never promoted his wife or son in politics.