Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s wife, Kamlesh Kumari, filed her nomination papers on Friday for the upcoming by-election in the Dehra Assembly constituency in Kangra district on July 10.

Chief Minister Sukhu and state Congress president Pratibha Singh were present when Kamlesh Kumari submitted her nomination papers.

Bypolls are being held in three Assembly constituencies (ACs) of Dehra, Hamirpur, and Nalagarh.

The elections in these three ACs were necessitated after three independent legislators tendered their resignation to State Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania on March 22 and joined the BJP the following day.

Since the Speaker did not accept their resignation, they approached the High Court and staged a sit-in protest on the premises of the State Legislative Assembly on March 30.

Two months later, on June 3, the Speaker accepted their resignation after the conclusion of the Lok Sabha polls and by-elections in the six Assembly constituencies.

A spokesperson for the Election Department said that 13 nominations were filed in Dehra, Hamirpur, and Nalagarh on the last day.

Besides Kamlesh Kumari (53), the Congress candidate making her electoral debut in Dehra, four other candidates also filed their nominations. Hari Om (66) filed his papers as a covering candidate of the Congress.

Hoshiyar Singh (57) is the BJP candidate with Bir Singh (60) serving as his as covering candidate. Advocate Sanjay Sharma (56) filed his nomination as an independent candidate.

In Hamirpur, three candidates filed their nominations: Dr Pushpinder Verma (48) as the Congress candidate, and Pradeep Kumar (58) and Nand Lal Sharma (64) as independent candidates.

For Nalagarh, five candidates filed their nomination papers: Kishori Lal Sharma (46) of the Swabhiman Party, and Uday Kumar Singh (46), Gurnam Singh (48), Harpreet Singh (36), and Vijay Singh (36) as independent candidates.

Altogether 19 candidates have filed their nomination papers for the by-elections in the three Assembly Constituencies.

In Dehra, a total of seven candidates have filed their nomination papers, while in Hamirpur there are four candidates, and in Nalagarh, eight candidates have filed their nominations.

In Dehra, a total of seven candidates have filed their nomination papers, while in Hamirpur and Nalagarh, four and eight candidates, respectively have submitted their papers.

Scrutiny of nomination papers will be done on 24 June, while the withdrawal of nominations is scheduled for 25 June and 26 June.