Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said the ensuing Lok Sabha (LS) and bye-elections of the six Assembly constituencies is a battle between honesty and dishonesty.

Addressing a public gathering at Seri Manch in Mandi, after the filing of nominations of Vikramaditya Singh for the Mandi parliamentary constituency, he lashed out at the BJP and the six Congress rebels who joined the saffron party.

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Taking a dig at the BJP, Leader of Opposition and former CM Jai Ram Thakur and their celebrity pick Kangna Ranaut who is contesting the Mandi LS seat, Sukhu said Jai Ram’s ‘Kangana Mandi ke Angana’ film will flop.

He said fearing the strategy of Congress state in-charge Rajeev Shukla, Jai Ram Thakur opted out of the election and fielded Kangana Ranaut in his place.

Kangana Ranaut has earned a lot of name in the film industry and Thakur has forcibly brought her into politics, he claimed. “Jai Ram Thakur in 2022, made a film named ‘Rivaaz Badlenge’ but the public changed it. On February 27, the film ‘Operation Lotus’ was made, which too flopped. This time too the film of a flop director is sure to flop,” said Sukhu.

“Thakur had stated in the State Legislative Assembly that even God cannot save this government. But God has saved this government and the six MLAs who sold themselves to BJP will now have to contest elections again,” he alleged.

These tainted leaders who rebelled and betrayed the Congress party, played with public sentiments will definitely be punished, he said.

The Congress party has fielded all the candidates with clean image and with the blessings of the public, the state government will run for three and a half more years and will continue to serve the people, he said, adding that the public will definitely teach a lesson to the BJP.

Sukhu said Vikramaditya Singh is a young hero of politics and if he had not been in politics today, he would have been the top hero of Bollywood. When disaster struck the state last year, he did a better job as the public works minister and remained with the affected people in their pain and suffering.

He charged Jai Ram Thakur with focusing on development of Seraj while ignoring other Assembly constituencies of Mandi while he was the CM.

During the disaster, the state government helped all the affected families across the state like its own family, said Sukhu.

Vikramaditya Singh, attacking BJP and Kangna Ranaut, said, “Congress is doing politics of development, whereas they (the BJP) are doing politics of entertainment. The picture directed by Jai Ram Thakur will fail at the ‘box office’ on June 1.”

“Kangna’s speeches, during her campaigns, are laced with abusive words for Congress and its leaders. There is not a single mention of any vision for the Mandi parliamentary constituency,” he said.