Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s wife has her work cut out if she wins Dehra bypoll

“Our village tehsil (taluka) is Dehra, but our Assembly constituency is different. For every small and big administrative work, we have to go to Dehra, but during elections, we vote in the Jaswan-Pragpur Assembly segment (represented by BJP MLA Bikram Thakur). We have already prepared a wish list to present to Kamlesh Thakur if she wins, and our foremost demand is to include our panchayat in the Dehra constituency. We have basic facilities—water, electricity, and roads—but there are some areas that require attention. As Kamlesh is saying that there will be another chief minister’s office at Dehra if she wins the election, we are eagerly looking forward to it,” Sharma added.

Said Kishan Kumar from Chanota, another village in Nalsuha, “Since Kamlesh Thakur was declared the Congress candidate from Dehra, the entire country has been watching the constituency, and our panchayat is also in the limelight.”

There are seven villages under Nalsuha panchayat–Chamnal, Madwada, Upper Chanota, Chanota, Nalsada Bharwadia, Nalsuha, and Suked. The entire area, including Dehra sub-town, was part of Jaswan-Pragpur from 1967 to 2012. In 2012, Dehra was made a separate Assembly constituency.

Shukal Kumar, a tailor who has his shop in Nalsuha, said, “My workplace is in Nalsuha, but my village Paddal falls in the Dehra Assembly constituency, from where Hoshyar Singh Chambyal won twice independently. It is also my wish that my workplace comes under the Dehra Assembly segment. Nalsuha panchayat has a population of approximately 2,000 people, out of which 1,400 are registered voters. Had we been under the Dehra Assembly constituency, we could have supported our sister.”

Hoshyar Singh Chambyal is the BJP candidate from Dehra for the bypoll.

Chamnal is located around 12 km from Dehra sub-town. A narrow kutcha (temporary) road goes to the maternal house of Kamlesh Thakur. People have to give up small portions of their land if a permanent and concrete road is to be constructed. Earlier, people were not ready to surrender their land but now they are. A local requesting anonymity said, “Recently, officials from the local administration made an estimate for the road.”

Sitting in Kamlesh Thakur’s maternal house in Chamnal, her two nieces said they have urged their friends and family members to rally behind their aunt in the upcoming bypoll. “We have been asking our friends and family members to support our aunt,” said Divya Thakur, a Class 12 student, and Deepti Thakur, a BTech graduate.

Surendra Patyal, the elder sister of Kamlesh Thakur, who came from Dehradun to support her, said, “We have two brothers, Yudhvir Thakur and Surinder Thakur, in the village. They, along with our nephew Dushyant Thakur, are all busy campaigning. We were all born and brought up in this house and have an emotional attachment to this village. Our father retired from the Military Engineering Service.” Patyal said no one in the family had any idea that Thakur would make her electoral debut.

Though villagers say that Hoshyar Singh Chambyal should not be underestimated, they believe Kamlesh Thakur has a bright prospect.

Naresh Kumar, who has relatives in the Dehra Assembly constituency, said, “The first plus is that CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is the husband of the Congress candidate. Everybody in Dehra knows that if Kamlesh wins, they will benefit. Second, why did Hoshyar Singh resign if he wanted development in this area? When he had won independently in 2022, why did he support the BJP at the last moment? He should have remained neutral.”

Kamlesh Thakur was born in Chamnal in Nalsuha Panchayat on April 2, 1970. She did her schooling in Dehra and completed her MA in political science from Government College, Chandigarh, in 1981. She married Sukhu on June 11, 1998.

The Dehra Assembly constituency has 85,263 voters.