BJP's Ram Swaroop Sharma defeats Aashray Sharma of Congress by 405459 votes.
Result update: Ram Swaroop Sharma victorious by 405459 votes in Mandi.
Mandi Lok Sabha election took place on 19th May in the seventh phase. It is situated in Himachal Pradesh.
Constituency profile:
Will a 'mistake' in candidate selection prove to be costly for BJP in Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh. The incumbent BJP candidate Ram Swaroop Sharma is in for a tough fight as the tallest leader of Mandi, Sukhram has fielded his grandson Aashray Sharma from Congress.
In the last election, Ram Swaroop Sharma defeated Congress candidate Pratibha Singh by around 40 thousand votes. Sukhram's association with Mandi goes back to 1963 when he was elected as MLA from here. He won a copious number of times from there and his son Anil Sharma is the current MLA.
Sukhram who first won the Lok Sabha seat in 1984 has won the seat also won the seat in 1991 and 1996. After being expelled from Congress over the telecom scandal, Sukhram formed the Himachal Vikas Party and played a key role in Himachal politics. Before the 2017 elections, Sukhram along with his son joined BJP and ensured that the party made a clean sweep here. Such impressive was BJP's performance, that Seraj MLA Jai Ram Thakur was selected by Modi-Shah as Himachal CM after Dhumal's shock defeat.
Hence for Jai Ram Thakur, this is a prestige fight to establish that Sukhram era is over and he can get the party to cross the line in Mandi. Aashray Sharma is a young gun who is mostly hoping to win on the basis of his grandfather's legacy who is still an influential Brahmin leader of the state. Aashray's father Anil Sharma is still part of BJP though he is no longer in the state cabinet. Anil Sharma had refused to campaign against his son.
Congress hopes are further lit up owing to the fact that Sukh Ram patched up with Virabhadra Singh after re-joining party. People of Himachal though are largely seen as having a positive image of Narendra Modi in their mind. Hence it remains to be seen whether they get influenced by Sukh Ram or decide to vote for PM Modi.
Another interesting aspect of Mandi is that it is a bellwether state, and only twice in history has it sided with a party which hasn't gone on to form government in the centre. The last time it happened was way back in 1989. In the past, Congress has won the seat 12 times and BJP only four times. Mandi consists of 17 assembly segments and will be voting on 19th May to decide how strong is still the Sukhram brand name in the constituency.
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