In Hamirpur bastion, Anurag Thakur eyes fifth term as CM Sukhu stakes prestige in key battle

A narrow road leading up to the Chintpurni temple cuts through two Assembly seats, Chintpurni and Jaswan-Pragpur, being represented by Congress MLA Sudarshan Singh Babloo and BJP MLA Bikram Singh respectively. Interestingly, the stretch running below lies in the Dehra seat held by Independent MLA Hoshyar Singh.

All these seats fall under the high-profile Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency being represented by Union minister Anurag Thakur, who has bagged it four consecutive times since 2008 when he had first won it in a bypoll. The Congress has fielded former Una MLA Satpal Raizada against him.

“Anurag Thakur is our MP and there is no doubt he will remain our MP. In fact, people on the other side of this road had voted for Congress in the 2022 elections and elected Sudarshan Singh Babloo as their MLA. They will too go with Anurag Thakur,” claims Happy, who runs a confectionery shop by the roadside.

The Congress clinched the November 2022 Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls, winning 40 seats out of 68 as against the BJP’s 25.

Happy’s father Joginder Sharma says, “This place spans two districts. The Chintpurni temple is in Una while the stairs leading to the temple fall in Kangra. As it is a revered place, people from many places come here, who would give an idea which way the wind is blowing in the polls.”

In the Hamirpur elections the stakes are high for both the BJP and the Congress, especially for Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu who hails from Hamirpur’s Nadaun, which he also represents in the Assembly. Even Depuy CM Mukesh Agnihotri’s Haroli seat also falls under the Hamirpur constituency.

Significantly, six Congress MLAs had turned rebel and cross-voted for the BJP in the February 2024 Rajya Sabha election following which