BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will address three public rallies in Himachal Pradesh on April 29, a party leader said here on Thursday.
However, the State’s ruling Congress was yet to announce the dates of rallies of its top leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. While Modi’s first rally will be held in Palampur town, the remaining two will be held in Mandi and Solan towns, BJP State spokesperson Ganesh Dutt told reporters. Palampur is part of the Kangra constituency from where former two-time BJP chief minister Shanta Kumar is in the fray. The Congress has fielded Chander Kumar, who defeated Shanta Kumar in 2004. In the Mandi parliamentary constituency, BJP greenhorn Ram Swaroop Sharma is pitted against two-time MP Pratibha Singh, wife of CM Virbhadra Singh. Solan is part of the Shimla (reserved) constituency, where BJP’s sitting MP Virinder Kashyap is facing Congress’ Mohan lal Bragta. The BJP managed to win the Shimla seat, which was a known Congress bastion, for the first time in 2009. Earlier, Modi held a rally on Feb 16 in Sujanpur, part of the Hamirpur constituency, the BJP’s pocket borough. The Cong has pitched BJP rebel Rajinder Rana against BJP’s sitting MP Anurag Thakur. 38 candidates will be in the fray for the 4 lS seats in the State that will go to polls May 7.