Tough fight for Shimla seat

Shimla : It is a triangular battle for the Shimla urban seat this time with the Congress , BJP and the CPM candidates fancying their chances in this key assembly seat in this Himachal Pradesh capital .

The voters in this hill station are the most varied and cosmopolitan in the entire state and hence the hardest to woo .

After the delimitation exercise the adjoining rural areas of the town have been removed making it one of the smallest constituencies in the hill state .

Sitting BJP MLA Suresh Bharadwaj is trying to retain his seat but he faces a stiff challenge from the Congress’ Harish Janartha who has been given a ticket for the first time .

Janartha is a staunch Virbhadra Singh loyalist and enjoys his blessings . But a section of the Congress including Harbhajan Singh Bhajji and Adarsh Sood are not campaigning enthusiastically for him making it harder for him .

But many observers tell Sun Post  it is Tikender Panwar of the CPM who needs to be watched .

Earlier this year in the Shimla civic polls the CPM shocked both the Congress and the BJP by winning the key posts of mayor and deputy mayor of Shimla by a huge margin .

Panwar is also the deputy mayor of Shimla . For the past few years he has been taking up some of the most pressing issues in the state and winning a lot of praise from civil society .

Tarsem Bharti is also in the fray as an independent and could poll a sizeable number of votes .

Then there is Radha Raman Shastri of the NCP . An ex-BJP minister and speaker Shastri broke away from the BJP nearly a year ago accusing the Dhumal led government of promoting corruption and neglecting many party workers.

The Shimla seat is known for close finishes which is why all the candidates are campaigning hard on the winding streets of Shimla .

Polling takes in Himachal on Nov 4 , but results will be known on Dec 20 .