Congress Chooses Virbhadra Singh’s Son Vikramaditya Singh to Contest Against Kangana Ranaut in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh

The Mandi constituency has a historical preference for electing royals, with 13 out of 19 elections since 1952 being won by members of erstwhile princely states. Vikramaditya Singh, a two-time MLA from the Shimla (rural) assembly segment, comes from a political family, as both his father and mother have each won the seat three times. Even before his candidature was announced, Vikramaditya Singh was involved in a public disagreement with a Bollywood actor-politician.

The BJP candidate responded to Singh’s comments about her reported statements on beef-eating, and she defended her credentials, stating that she had made her own name in the film industry and aspired to serve the people in politics. Khushal Thakur, a Kargil war hero and BJP leader, who previously lost to Pratibha Singh in the Lok Sabha bypolls, has declared his support for the Bollywood actor-politician. Moreover, Maheshwar Singh, the titular king of Kullu, initially opposed her candidature but has since extended his support.

Of the 17 assembly segments under the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, eight are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes. Notably, there have been exceptions to the preference for royals, such as three-time MP Sukh Ram and two-time winner Ram Swaroop and Ganga Singh, who did not come from royal families. *(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.

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