Mandi: Donning a green saree and a Himachali cap, actor and BJP candidate from the Mandi parliamentary seat in Himachal Pradesh, Kangana Ranaut, on Tuesday filed nomination for the election, saying “hopefully she will get success in the field of politics as well”.
Accompanied by her mother Asha Ranaut, sister Rangoli Chandel and party leaders Jai Ram Thakur and Rajeev Bindal, Kangana said she has filed the nomination and it is a matter of pride for her to contest from Mandi.
“I have been successful in Bollywood and I am hopeful that I will get success in the field of politics as well.”
She said the people of Mandi and their love for her have brought her here.
“Women in our country are making a mark in every field but incidents of feticide in Mandi were high a few years ago. Today, the women from Mandi are in the Army, the field of education and politics,” she said.
Later addressing the gathering amidst slogans of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Bharat mata ki jai”, she praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his initiatives.
“In 2029, 22 of the 68 MLAs in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly will be women, all due to PM Modi making provision of 33 per cent reservation for women,” she said, adding “Modi ji has filed the nominations from Kashi (Varanasi) and I filed it from Chotto Kashi (Mandi).”
Trying to build rapport with the people, Kangana said, “This is the blessing of the people of Mandi for their daughter, who has struggled hard to make a name for herself in the film industry.”
In a unique electoral showdown in Mandi constituency, the battleground shifts between “royalty” and “stardom”, as Congress legislator Vikramaditya Singh, the scion of the erstwhile royal family, challenges Bollywood’s queen, Kangana Ranaut.
Amid the clash of heritage and stardom, the sprawling constituency, one of the toughest and covers almost two-thirds of the state, braces for a riveting electoral spectacle.
This seat is currently represented by Pratibha Singh, the mother of Vikramaditya who belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Keonthal state. She’s a three-time MP from Mandi.
She declined to re-enter the fray, saying senior party leaders had proposed Vikramaditya’s name as they were of the opinion that “he’s young, energetic and a good orator with influence over the youth and will be a good competitor for Kangana”.
Mandi is the home district of BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur, the first Himachal Chief Minister from Mandi. In most of the election meetings and during campaigning, he’s accompanying Kangana.
Mandi had remained a political battleground for long for Congress veteran and six-time chief minister Virbhadra Singh, the father of Vikramaditya. After making it to the Lok Sabha for the first time by winning the Mahasu parliamentary seat in 1962 and then again in 1967, Virbhadra Singh switched to the Mandi in 1971 and registered a win. He, however, lost the seat in 1977 but was again elected from the constituency in 1980 and later in 2009.
Kangana belongs to Bhambla village near Hamirpur town, some 200 km from the state capital Shimla. She owns a cottage in the picturesque tourist resort Manali, which is part of the Mandi parliamentary constituency.
Besides the Mandi seat, which includes Kullu, Mandi and some areas of Chamba and Shimla districts, the tribal-dominated Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti, the other three constituencies in the state are Shimla (reserved), Kangra and Hamirpur, which will go to the polls on June 1.
(IANS)
