Vikramaditya Singh targets BJP's Kangana Ranaut by comparing her to actor MP Sunny Deol

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh minister Vikramaditya Singh on Wednesday targetted BJP's Mandi candidate Kangana Ranaut by indirectly comparing her to Sunny Deol, another actor-politician in the BJP camp, who has been criticised for his absences from Parliament and his Lok Sabha constituency.

The Congress leader shared on social media a purported notice from Deol appointing a 'representative' for attending meetings in his Gurdaspur constituency on his behalf.

"I pray to Lord Ram that such situation does not arise in Mandi," PWD minister Singh said Wednesday on Facebook, asking people of the constituency to think hard before casting their vote.

Singh's mother Pratibha Singh is the Himachal Congress chief and the present MP from Mandi. She recently announced she would not contest the Lok Sabha polls this time.

The Congress is yet to announce its candidate for the Mandi seat.

The letter was posted on Facebook on Wednesday, days after Ranaut was named the BJP candidate from the Mandi seat by the party.

The purported communique by Deol on his official note pad and addressed 'To Whom It May Concern' said, "I hereby appoint Shri Gurpreet Singh Palheri son of Shri Supinder Singh R/O village & post office Palheri, District Mohali Punjab as my representative to attend meetings and follow important matters pertaining to my parliament constituency, Gurdaspur with concerned authorities."

"I pray to Lord Ram that such a situation does not arise in Mandi," Singh said while reacting to the letter, and added that the people of Mandi have to think hard before choosing their candidate.

Talking to reporters, Singh, son of former chief minister late Virbhadra Singh asked where Kangana was at the time of the monsoon disaster when the people of Mandi needed her.

Last week, Pratibha Singh had announced that she has decided not to contest the Lok Sabha elections as the ground situation was 'not favourable' and the workers are disheartened. Her statement had put the Congress in a tight spot.

"I have withdrawn my name and conveyed to the high command that I will not contest the elections and would fully support any candidate which the party central leaders consider suitable," Singh had told the media persons here.

Polls are very crucial for the survival of the government and if she remains confined to the Mandi Parliament constituency only, she will not be able to discharge her responsibility of campaigning in the byelections and ensure victory of the party candidates, she had maintained.

Talking to media persons, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had on Tuesday said Ranaut is the daughter of Himachal, her mother and father live here. Ranaut's father was the general secretary of Mandi District Congress Committee, he added.

Elections to the four Himachal Lok Sabha seats -- Shimla, Mandi, Hamirpur and Kangra -- and assembly byelections to six assembly constituencies will be held in the last phase on June 1. The BJP has announced all four Lok Sabha and six assembly candidates.

The six assembly seats of Dharamshala, Lahaul and Spiti, Sujanpur, Barsar, Gagret and Kutlehar became vacant after six Congress MLAs Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto were disqualified for defying a whip to vote in favour of the government during the cut motions and the budget.

These six MLAs along with three Independents had voted in favour of BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan in the recently-concluded Rajya Sabha elections. They joined BJP on March 23 and were given tickets from their respective constituencies on Tuesday.

With the disqualification of the six Congress MLAs, the strength of the ruling Congress came down from 40 to 34, including the Speaker who can vote only in the case of a tie during a floor test in the 68-member Assembly. The BJP has 25 members.