Congress fields former mayor Devinder Jaggi from Dharamshala assembly bypoll
Jaggi will take on Congress turncoat Sudhir Sharma, who jumped ship to the BJP after the February Rajya Sabha polls
Congress has fielded former mayor Devinder Singh Jaggi from the Dharamshala assembly constituency for the upcoming by-polls scheduled to be held on June 1.
Jaggi, who is currently the state general secretary of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), will take on Congress turncoat Sudhir Sharma, who jumped ship to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the February Rajya Sabha polls.
Jaggi, who belongs to the Rajput community, started his electoral politics journey in early 2000s, and remained a member of Kangra Zila Parishad (Congress). He was elected deputy mayor of the Dharamshala municipal corporation in 2016 and became the mayor in 2018. He is the current councillor of Ward 11, Dharamshala, and has served as the general secretary of Congress’ state youth unit in 2003.
Both the Gaddi and Chaudhary communities, the two dominant groups in Dharamshala, had been hoping for their representatives to land the ticket. Both the communities had outlined that if the Congress party denies them the ticket, they may field an independent candidate.
Manoj Kumar and Vijay Inder Karan, both members, Gaddi community, were aspiring for the ticket, as was former BJP leader Rakesh Chaudhary. The latter may also contest as an independent candidate.
A Gaddi leader said most of the majority of the voters from the community were BJP supporters, and the Congress could have swayed them had it fielded a Gaddi face. “Fielding a Gaddi face would have benefited the Congress, as the community is upset by the BJP after they sidelined the sitting Kangra MP Kishan Kapoor and gave ticket to Rajeev Bhardwaj,” the leader said.
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