Rohroo bypoll: BJP hopes to capture traditional Congress votes

An interesting battle is on cards in Rohroo assembly seat in Himachal Pradesh as BJP veteran Khushi Ram Balnatah takes on greenhorn Manjit Thakur of Congress on a seat which has traditionally been a pocket borough of Union Steel minister Virbhadra Singh.
      
The seat goes to bypolls on November 7 along with Jawali seat in Kangra.
      
What has added to the intensity of the contest is the fact that Virbhadra's wife Pratibha was the front runner for Congress's ticket but lost out at the last minute, riling many supporters of the Union minister.
       
Virbhadra represented the constituency for 19 long years since 1990 before shifting to national politics.
       
Though the result of bypoll will not affect the BJP government in state which is sitting pretty with 41 seats in 68-member house, the symbolic effect of victory is not lost on both the parties.
       
BJP hopes that the traditional vote bank of Congress will turn against that party due to denial of ticket to Pratibha and is leaving no stone unturned to register a win on the seat.
        
About half-a-dozen ministers of Dhumal government are camping in the constituency to ensure Balnatah's victory.
        
Balnatah, a native of Androhti village of Rohroo sub-division, is asking voters to give him one last chance as he has a dubious distinction of losing to Union steel minister continuously since 1990.
        
The seat will be reserved from next elections due to delimitation.
        
There are 70,195 registered voters in the assembly segment, out of which 33,768 are women.