Cong fields Himachal Pradesh minister, MLA from Mandi, Shimla Lok Sabha seats

The Congress on Saturday fielded its MLA from Himachal Pradesh’s Kasauli Vinod Sultanpuri from Shimla Lok Sabha seat and pitted state minister Vikramaditya Singh against BJP candidate and Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut in Manali.

Two-time MLA from Shimla (Rural) assembly segment and PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh is the son of six-time chief minister Virbhadra Singh and Pratibha Singh, the sitting MP from Mandi and the Congress’ state unit president. He is the titular king of the erstwhile princely state of Bushahr and has also represented Himachal Pradesh in Rifle and Trap shooting Competition in the National Shooting Championship.

An alumni of St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and a post-graduate in history, Vikramaditya Singh was Himachal Pradesh Youth Congress president from 2013 to 2018. He did his schooling at Bishop Cotton School, Shimla. He is not new in the mandi parliamentary constituency as his father and mother each won the seat thrice. In the 2021 Lok Sabha bypoll to the seat, Singh had campaigned extensively for his mother Pratibha Singh.

On the other hand, the Congress’ Shimla (SC) Lok Sabha seat candidate Vinod Sultanpuri, the son of former MP Krishan Dutt Sultanpuri, was elected to the Himachal Pradesh Assembly for the first time in 2022. He has been fielded against incumbent MP and former state BJP chief Suresh Kashyap.

Sultanpuri completed his schooling at Lawrence School Sanawar and did his LLB from ILS Law College, Pune. He was Youth Congress’ Solan district unit chief from 2006 to 2008 and the outfit’s national secretary from 2009 to 2011.

The BJP has announced candidates for all four Lok Sabha candidates in Himachal Pradesh, the Congress is yet to announce its candidates from Hamirpur and Kangra.

The BJP had won all four Lok Sabha seats in 2019 with a thumping majority. However, the death of Ram Swaroop Sharma necessitated the 2021 Mandi parliamentary bypolls which Pratibha Singh had won.