Man faces son-in-laW in HimacHal

Politics is a strange game. In the eagerness to win, close friends, associates and even relatives become bitter opponents. One can see many such examples in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh, which is going to the polls on 9 November. The BJP, in a Shimla constituency has created a fight within an erstwhile royal family, from which hails Pratibha Singh, wife of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. In Solan, the contest is between a Congress nominee and his son-in-law. In Sujanpur, the match is between a guru and his disciple. In Nagrota, two friends have turned foes.

At Kasumpti constituency, the Congress candidate is Anirudh Singh, the “Rana” of the erstwhile Koti princely state. Facing him, the BJP nominee is Vijay Jyoti Sen, who is the wife of Veer Vikram Sen, the “Raja” of the erstwhile Keonthal princely state. Strangely, Prithvi Vikram Sen, the younger brother of Veer Vikram Sen, has filed nomination papers as an independent candidate from Kasumpti, taking everyone by surprise. Both Veer Vikram and Prithvi Vikram are the brothers of Pratibha Singh, wife of Congress CM Virbhadra Singh.

To counter Colonel (Retired) Dhani Ram Shandil, the Congress candidate in Solan, the BJP has fielded his son-in-law, Dr Rajesh Kashyap. Describing the contest as “a strictly family affair,” the locals are jokingly saying that “whosoever may win will be from within the family; it is a win-and-win situation”.

In Sujanpur constituency, the fight is between BJP’s former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and his political disciple Rajinder Singh Rana, who is the Congress candidate. During the BJP regime, Dhumal had made Rana his media adviser. But later both parted ways.