Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday said the names of BJP candidates for bypolls to Mandi Lok Sabha seat and three assembly segments of Arki, Fatehpur and Jubbal Kotkhai will be declared soon.

Thakur said discussions on probable candidates for by-elections in the state was held in Dharamshala in Kangra district on Sunday evening and the list of candidates had been sent for approval to party high command.

Asserting that BJP will secure win in bypolls on all four seats, Thakur stated that Congress can select whichever issue to contest these elections but BJP will seek votes on the achievements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Centre government and the state government.

“Congress party’s situation is similar to Punjab throughout the country as the party neither has any issue nor any policy,” he added.

He further stated that the ruling BJP was ready to contest bypolls in Himachal Pradesh and the party candidates will secure victory on all four seats.

It is worth mentioning here that state BJP had sent a panel of two to five names from each seat for which bypolls will be held on 30 October in a meeting held on Sunday evening in Dharamshala.

The meeting which was attended by HP CM, BJP national vice president Saudan Singh, state incharge Avinash Rai Khanna and co-incharge Sanjay Tandon among others had proposed the names as no consensus was reached on a single candidate on these seats.

The names of Maheshwar Singh, former MP, Kargil war veteran Khushal Singh, Nihal Chand, Ajay Rana and Pankaj Jamwal had been sent for party command for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat.

The names of Ratanpal Singh, Govind Ram Sharma, Asha Parihar for Arki assembly segment, Kripal Parmar, Baldev Thakur, Reeta Thakur, Pankaj Thakur for Fatehpur assembly segment and Chetan Bragta and Neelam Saraik for Jubbal Kotkhai assembly segment had been recommended to party high command.

State BJP chief Suresh Kashyap had left for Delhi on Monday to discuss and finalise the names of candidates, out of the panel selected in the meeting with senior party leaders.

The bypolls in Himachal Pradesh were necessitated due to the deaths of six-time CM and Arki MLA Virbhadra Singh, the two time MP from Mandi Lok Sabha seat Ramswaroop Sharma, Fatehpur MLA and former minister Sujan Singh Pathania and Jubbal Kotkhai MLA and ex-minister Narendra Bragta.