Himachal Pradesh: BJP Suspends State Vice-President Kripal Parmar, 4 Rebel Leaders

Infighting in the Himachal BJP unit has put the party in a tough spot ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled to be held on November 12.

Days ahead of the Himachal Pradesh election, the ruling BJP on Monday suspended its state unit vice-president Kripal Parmar and four rebel leaders, PTI reported. The leaders had filed their nominations for the November 12 polls as Independents from their respective constituencies after the BJP denied tickets to them.

The suspended include former MLAs Tejwant Singh Negi (Kinnaur), Kishori Lal (Anni), Manohar Dhiman (Indora), KL Thakur (Nalagarh) and Kripal Parmar. Parmar filed his nomination as an Independent from the Fatehpur constituency.

"BJP's state unit president Suresh Kashyap has suspended the workers from the primary membership of the party for six years for contesting the elections as Independents against the party's official candidate," the party statement read.

READ | Himachal Assembly Election 2022: 92 Candidates Withdraw Nomination, 413 Contestants In Fray Now

For the polls, BJP has denied candidature to 11 MLAs, including a minister, and shifted the constituencies of two ministers. The party has also swapped seats of two veterans owing to infighting.

Nineteen candidates will be entering the electoral fray for the first time. Four sitting MLAs have been denied tickets, including Jal Shakti Minister Mahender Singh from Mandi, which is Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur's home district.

Earlier, more than a dozen BJP leaders had announced that they would be contesting as Independents, PTI reported.

However, after the intervention of BJP's leadership, some of the leaders, including former MP Maheshwar Singh, Yuvraj Kapoor and Dharamshala block president Anil Chaudhary, withdrew their nominations.

Home Minister Amit Shah In Himachal On Two-Day Visit

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address six rallies in two days in Himachal Pradesh. He will also hold closed-door organisational meetings during his visit.

Shah will stay the intervening night of November 1 and 2 in Shimla and is likely to hold a meeting with the senior leaders of the BJP's state unit, PTI reported.

He will hold a rally each in Bhattiyat, Karsog and Kusumpatti assembly segments on November 1. The next day, he will hold a rally each in Dharamshala, Nandon and Nalagarh.