New Delhi: Ahead of the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address Bharatiya Janata Party's rallies in the poll-bound state from November 5-9, state BJP president Suresh Kashyap said on Thursday.
According to a report by news agency PTI, the prime minister will address rallies in Shimla, Hamirpur, Kangra and Mandi as per the tentative programme, Kashyap said.
The party state chief further said that BJP president JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Union ministers Bhupender Yadav, Anurag Thakur, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Smriti Irani, party spokesperson Sambit Patra and several other prominent leaders will also address the election meetings in various parts of the state. The dates for their election rallies are yet to be finalised, Kashyap added.
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Talking about the rebel BJP candidates, Kashyap said efforts were underway to persuade them to withdraw their nominations.
“Those rebel BJP candidates who will not withdraw their nominations will be expelled from the party for six years,” the Shimla MP added.
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However, Kashyap said that he hopes that the rebel candidates would withdraw their nominations and there wouldn’t be a situation where they would have to be expelled from the party.
It is to be noted that voting for the 68-seat Himachal Assembly is scheduled to take place on November 12 and the counting will take place on December 8. The last date for withdrawal of nomination papers for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections is October 29.
A notification for the state elections was issued on October 17 and the last date for filing of nominations was October 25. Scrutiny of papers was held on October 27.