He fought an election over four decades back. His rival - though a grassroots worker for his party and a medical professional - is debuting in the Lok Sabha polls this time round, making Kangra, voting on June 1, a keenly watched constituency.
In his debut contest, Dr Rajiv Bharadwaj, 62, of the BJP is taking on Congress leader and former Union minister Anand Sharma in the parliamentary seat made up of 13 assembly segments of Kangra district and four of Chamba district.
What works to Bharadwaj’s advantage is the legacy of his uncle and former chief minister Shanta Kumar and his popularity as a BJP worker and doctor.
Sharma, one of Congress’ well known faces has been a former Union minister and member of the Rajya Sabha. He had contested a poll from the Shimla assembly seat in 1982 and lost. This time though he held a spirited campaign with local and national Congress leaders to woo voters.
Since the first Lok Sabha polls in 1951-52, Kangra has been won by the BJP in six elections, four times by Kumar and 10 times by the Congress.
Kangra, which currently has a sitting BJP MP, was in Punjab till the state's reorganisation in 1966.
The Janata Party won Kangra once.
Top political leaders from both the Congress and BJP have visited the constituency this year to campaign for their candidates.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda, among others, canvassed for Bharadwaj and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other senior party leaders for 71-year-old Sharma.
During his campaign in a constituency which has a sizeable population of armed forces families and veterans, Sharma, attacked the BJP-led Central government's Agniveer scheme. He also accused the BJP of "divisive" politics, while repeating the Congress' promise to "save" the Constitution and democracy.
Releasing a "five-year agenda" for Kangra, Bharadwaj based his campaigning around local issues, besides highlighting the work of the Narendra Modi government and the construction of the Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya.
Developing Dharamshala, Mcleodganj, Khajjiar and Palampur as major tourist destinations, completing the Holi-Uttarala tunnel, restoring the Jogindernagar-Pathankot rail service, bringing schemes to generate employment in rural areas and starting 'Meet your MP programme' are on the BJP candidate's agenda.
The Congress leader also promised four tunnels in the hilly Kangra-Chamba region and strengthening of road infrastructure and the tourism sector of Himachal Pradesh.
With no other prominent candidate in the poll fray to challenge the BJP and the Congress, it is a direct contest in Kangra, where Brahmins, OBCs, Gaddis and ex-servicemen form a large chunk of the electorate.
The BJP replaced its sitting MP Kishan Kapoor, who belongs to the Gaddi community and is not in good health, with Bharadwaj.
The Congress this time round did not retain Pawan Kajal, who was defeated in the 2019 elections by Kapoor with a margin of 4,77,623 votes.
Though Kapoor did not campaign for the BJP, this time, his grouse was that he was not consulted before the BJP announced Bharadwaj’s candidature.
During campaigning for the last phase of the polls, which ended Thursday, the Congress tried hard to convince people that only a leader of tall stature like Sharma could effectively raise the issues of the state at the Centre.
Bharadwaj has dubbed Sharma as an outsider, claiming it is for the first time that any national party has fielded a candidate who is not from Kangra.
The Congress leader countered his rival, saying he was from Himachal Pradesh and lived in Delhi, pointing out that even Prime Minister Modi who was from Gujarat was contesting the polls on June 1 from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
Of the 17 assembly segments in the Kangra Lok Sabha constituency, 11 were won by the Congress in the 2022 state polls.
There are 15,02,506 electors voters in this constituency.
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