BJP fields all 6 rebel Congress MLAs for Himachal Pradesh bypolls

The BJP on Tuesday named its candidates for assembly bypolls in several states, fielding six disqualified MLAs of the Himachal Pradesh assembly in the state days after they joined the party after leaving the Congress.

Several Gujarat MLAs, including four from the Congress who joined the BJP recently, have also been fielded by the party for bypolls necessitated by their resignations.

In Himachal Pradesh, the BJP has named Sudhir Sharma (Dharamshala), Ravi Thakur (Lahaul and Spiti), Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur), Inder Dutt Lakhanpal (Barsar), Chetanya Sharma (Gagret) and Devinder Kumar Bhutto (Kutlehar) as its candidates.

The six former Congress MLAs were disqualified for defying a party whip and had voted for the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha poll, inflicting an embarrassing defeat on the Congress that is in power in the state.

In Gujarat, the BJP's candidates for bypolls to five seats include Arjun Modhvadiya, Chatursinh Chavda and Arvind Ladani.

The BJP also named its candidates for the bypolls to two seats in West Bengal and one seat in Karnataka, besides for nine assembly seats in Sikkim.

Assembly elections in Sikkim are held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls, and the BJP recently broke its alliance with the state's ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha.