Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur on Saturday said the BJP has to win both the Lok Sabha and assembly bypolls to accelerate the pace of development in the state.

Addressing a gathering of ‘panna pramukhs', Thakur, who is also the BJP candidate from Hamirpur Lok sabha seat, urged people to vote for party candidate ID Lakhanpal from Barsar seat to avail benefits of central schemes.

Two ‘lotus' – the BJP's election symbol – have to bloom in the elections instead of one to accelerate the pace of development in the state in general and Hamirpur in particular, Thakur said.

He said this at a conference of ‘panna pramukhs' of Barsar and Bhoranj assembly constituencies organised in Bhota town of Hamirpur district.

The minister said that the work done by the central government in Himachal Pradesh, including for developing national highways, is commendable.

Meanwhile, addressing a press conference at Dharamshala, Vipin Singh Parmar, the BJP in-charge for the Kangra parliamentary constituency and former Speaker of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, launched a sharp attack against Congress candidate Anand Sharma and the current state government.

Referring to Sharma, Parmar accused the Congress of neglecting local candidates by assigning parliamentary tickets to “outsiders”.

He claimed that as a central minister, Sharma had largely ignored the interests of Himachal Pradesh and remained politically active only within the confines of Delhi.

"When it was crucial to advocate for Himachal, Anand Sharma was absent. His contributions were minimal during a period when the state needed robust representation," the BJP leader said.

Parmar also raised concerns regarding the stalled construction of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh's Dharamshala building.

He speculated that Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu might have “intentions of relocating the project” since the required state government funds of Rs 30 crore are yet to be deposited.