Having run out of options, the BJP finally zeroed in on Ramswaroop Sharma, an organisation man and a Brahmin leader keeping the caste equation in mind in Mandi to contest against heavyweight Congress candidate Pratibha Singh.
After hectic parleys and indecisiveness which gripped the party, BJP Central Election Committee on Tuesday evening announced the name of Sharma who was among the panel of four names sent by the State unit for consideration.
The choice of candidate by BJP is however perceived as no match to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's wife Pratibha Singh who had won the by-election last year by over 1.25 lakh margin and clearly shows the lack of options to field a strong contender as Sharma has never contested an the lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha election.
The only point which went into the favour of Sharma (56) was that he has been associated with the organisation and is senior State vice-president of the party having RSS background. He hails from Joginder Nagar Assembly segment of Mandi district.
Sharma has also been the election in-charge for the Mandi seat of the party and has worked in National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) limited from 1976 to 1984 after which he took voluntary retirement and became active in social activities with RSS.
He was appointed as 'Karyavah' (secretary) of RSS in 1990 to 1995 from Mandi district and also worked with various fronts of RSS and was appointed as BJP's organisational secretary for the Mandi district.
During his tenure, former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and his son Anurag Thakur successfully contested election from Hamirpur seat. In 2009, he was appointed vice-chairman of Himachal Pradesh Civil Supplies Corporation but never contested an election.
BJP has played the Brahmin card keeping the considerable upper caste population in the constituency and many believe he could polarise the population. Sharma is the second Brahmin leader party has fielded in the lok Sabha after BJP veteran Shanta Kumar.
However, Mandi seat is a Congress stronghold and has been largely represented by kin from royal families. Out of the 16 general elections held so far on the seat, 12 times, individuals from royal families have won the seat and the only Brahmin face who have won the seat is former Union Telecom Minister Pandit Sukh Ram.