Ex-MLA’s nephew to contest as Independent

Harpreet Saini, nephew of former BJP MLA HN Saini, contesting the Nalagarh byelection as an Independent candidate could mar the prospects of both BJP and Congress. He had earlier unsuccessfully contested the 2017 Assembly election as an Independent candidate and bagged 5,443 votes.

Harpreet’s uncle HN Saini had won three Assembly elections consecutively from the Nalagarh seat in 1998, 2003 and 2007. He passed away in 2011. After HN Saini’s demise, his wife had contested the 2011 byelection and lost to Congress’ Lakhwinder Rana by a narrow margin of 1,599 votes.

The Saini family has some vote bank in the constituency and Harpreet can mar the winning prospects of both BJP and Congress. The presence of two Sikh candidates can lead to a division of Congress votes as the area has a sizable population of community members.

Harpreet held a meeting with his supporters at Nalagarh on Monday and discussed the poll strategy. He announced that he would contest the byelection as an Independent candidate and file his nomination papers on June 21.

The stakes are high for both BJP and Congress in the byelection. BJP’s KL Thakur was uncomfortable while explaining to the voters why did he resign from the Assembly when they had lent an overwhelming support to him after he failed to get the BJP ticket in the 2022 elections.