India News | Himachal: BJP Candidate Says Police Following Him in Plain Clothes, Video Goes Viral

Shimla, Jul 9 (PTI) Former Independent MLA and BJP candidate for the Dehra assembly by-poll Hoshiyar Singh has alleged that police in plain clothes have been following him in a car for the past three days.

In a two-minute-17-second video, five people in a car are seen caught by Singh's security with the BJP candidate saying, "Police in plain clothes is following me for the past three days and my life is in danger -? this is Sukhu sarkar (CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government)."

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Two-time Independent MLA from Dehra Singh is facing Congress candidate Kamlesh Thakur, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's wife, in the by-poll. The by-elections to three seats of Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagarh will be held on Wednesday.

The seats fell vacant after three Independent legislators Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra), Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur) and K L Thakur (Nalagarh), who had voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls held on February 27, resigned from the House on March 22.

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They joined the BJP the next day but their resignations were accepted by the Speaker on June 3 and the seats were declared vacant, necessitating by-elections. The BJP has fielded all the three Independent MLA from their respective seats.

"I have security from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and will shoot if anyone follows me," Singh added.

Leader of opposition Jai Ram Thakur and BJP state media in-charge Karan Nanda accused CM Sukhu of misusing the official machinery in the by-polls and said that by spying on the BJP candidate, the Congress has already accepted its defeat.

The spying incident raises many questions like why BJP candidates are being followed by police in civil dress, said Nanda, calling it a "conspiracy". It is unfortunate that the chief minister has crossed all limits to ensure victory of his wife.

Reacting to the video, the Congress released a video of Congress MLA Sudarshan Babloo in which he termed it a "political stunt" to woo the voters on the last day.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)