To take on sitting BJP MP Anurag Thakur, Congress on Saturday declared former minister and MLA, Ram Lal Thakur as its candidate from Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency.
Five time MLA from Naina Devi Assembly segment in Bilaspur, Thakur a well entrenched political leader, is expected to give a tough fight to three-time BJP MP Anurag Thakur, who is also a former BCCI President.
With the declaration of Ram Lal Thakur from Hamirpur, Congress has declared the names of all its four candidates from the hill state. The party had earlier annnoced nominees for three seats of Kangra, Mandi and Shimla (reserved).
The sixty-seven year old Ram Lal Thakur, was first elected as an MLA in 1985 and has been a minister in Himachal government thrice. The Congress leader was earlier pushed into Lok Sabha contest in Hamirpur Parliamentary constituency in 2004, and then in 2007 Lok Sabha by-poll.
In 2004, he lost to BJP’s Suresh Chandel by a margin of over 1600 votes and in 2007 by-poll he lost to former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal by a margin of around 80,000 votes.