Shimla: There are no permanent enemies and friends in politics says an adage. It seems political leaders drew inspiration from the saying and entered the fray against each other as they wanted to win polls throwing the blood relation into the wind. Though some of them pitted against each other in some constituencies while others contested in different areas, but ultimately power-monger politicians kept relations aside and gave prominence to win the electoral battle in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls. ETV Bharat traced the candidates of the same families, who romp home and those who eat humble pie.
Family members contested against each other in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections. In Kullu, the father had to lose the ticket due to his son's stubbornness. BJP fielded Maheshwar Singh from Kullu, while his son Hiteshwar Singh contested as an independent candidate from Banjar. Due to this, the BJP cancelled the ticket given to former MLA and MP Maheshwar Singh in Kullu.
In Solan, father-in-law and son-in-law entered the fray against each other. Father-in-law Dr Dhani Ram Shandil (Congress) and son-in-law Dr Rajesh Kashyap (BJP) contested against each other. Shandil and Rajesh Kashyap fought against each other in the 2017 elections, too, and Congress candidate Dhaniram Shandil won. This time again Dr Dhani Ram Shandil won by securing 29,523 votes and Rajesh Kashyap bagged 25,887 votes.
In Una's Kutlehar, BJP candidate Virendra Kanwar fought against his nephew Devendra Bhutto, who contested the election on a Congress ticket. Devendra Bhutto won and secured 35,956 votes while Virendra Kanwar 28,503 votes. In the Bharmour assembly, uncle-nephew were in the election battle. BJP candidate Dr Janakraj left his job and forayed into politics. Janak is the nephew of Congress candidate and former minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri. For the first time on this seat, BJP candidate Dr Janak Raj was in the fray against his uncle. BJP candidate Janakraj won by securing 29,957 votes while Thakur Singh got 24,845 votes.
Also read: Himachal poll: Three BJP rebels win, relegating party nominees to third place
In Chamba, BJP candidate Neelam Nayar contested against her nephew Neeraj, who contested the election on a Congress ticket. Neeraj Nayyar defeated his aunt. Neeraj got 31,898 votes while Neelam Nayyar bagged 24,602 votes. Senior Congress leader Kaul Singh Thakur contested from the Drang assembly constituency and his daughter from Mandi Sadar. Both father and daughter contested on Congress tickets. Meanwhile, Kaul Singh Thakur from Drang and Champa Thakur from Mandi Sadar both lost the elections.
At the same time, Jal Shakti Minister Mahendra Thakur's daughter and son fought for one seat, but Mahendra Thakur realising the consequences of the political feud in the family controlled the damage by convincing his daughter to withdraw from the contest. Interestingly, Rajat Thakur contested from the Dharampur seat on a BJP ticket while son-in-law Sanjeev Bhandari contested as an independent from Joginder Nagar, but both of them were defeated.
