Dharamshala (HP), Oct 19 (PTI) Supporters of sitting BJP MLA from Dharamshala Vishal Nehria on Wednesday protested against the denial of assembly election ticket to him from the constituency.

The BJP released its first list of 62 candidates for the polls to the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly, dropping 11 sitting MLAs, including Nehria. In his place, Rakesh Choudhry has been fielded from the seat.

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Supporters of Nehria gathered at the Dharamshala Mandal BJP election campaign office and urged the party high command to review the decision.

“Party high command has given a ticket to a leader who is not yet known to the workers of the Mandal and has not reached the office of the Mandal till date,” alleged Pawan Kumar, one of the party workers.

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“They will have to think again. Otherwise, we will not support the defector under any circumstances,” said another worker.

Choudhary was expelled by the BJP in 2019 when he contested as an independent and joined the AAP in March this year. He returned to the BJP in July.

There were 17 names recommended by the BJP Mandal, including three women, and only one of them should have been given the ticket,” said BJP member Vijay Gupta.

Sangeeta Sharma of Mahila Morcha said that the MLA has worked on the ground.

Meanwhile, another BJP leader Vipin Nehria has announced that he will contest the election as an independent.

(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)