Sometimes a film fails so badly, people leave it midway: Anurag Thakur on Himachal CM Sukhu

Dharamshala/Hamirpur, May 14 (PTI) BJP leader Anurag Thakur on Tuesday said "sometimes, a film fails so badly that the audience leaves it even before the interval", in an apparent reference to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu's claim that he will complete his term and go for another.

Thakur said this while talking to reporters after the filing of nomination by Sudhir Sharma, the BJP candidate from the Dharamshala Assembly seat.

The Union information and broadcasting minister said it would be a difficult enough task for Sukhu to complete his current term, let alone getting elected for another.

Reacting to the chief minister's statement that "the Sukhu government's film would go on for another three-and-a-half years and its second part will come in 2027", Thakur said, "Completing part one would be a big thing. Sometimes, a film fails so badly that the audience leaves it even before the interval".

Polling for the four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh and bypolls to six Assembly segments will be held on June 1.

"I still remember when Sharma contested his first election, (former chief minister) Prem Kumar Dhumal wanted him to be in the BJP. Today, we are strengthened as he has joined the party. The BJP workers will ensure his victory," Thakur said.

Sharma is one of the six Congress rebels who voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls held in the hill state on February 27. The six MLAs were disqualified for defying a whip to be present in the Assembly and vote for the government.

Subsequently, all six joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and were given bypoll tickets from their respective Assembly seats.

After the filing of nomination by Congress candidate Devinder Jaggi from the Dharamshala Assembly seat, Sukhu told reporters, "We have fielded an honest candidate against the leader of the Congress MLAs who sold themselves in the political market. The people of Dharamshala would give a befitting reply to him on June 1." The chief minister stressed that political service should be driven by genuine public interest, not by financial deals and betrayals, and criticised the defectors for undermining people's trust.

Later, addressing a rally at Barsar after the filing of nomination by Congress candidate from the Barsar assembly seat Subash Dhatawalia, Sukhu said he would not bow down before the mafia that is harming the cause of the state.

He accused the Congress rebels of taking money in briefcases that he claimed would now be used in the elections and said people should take money from them but vote for the Congress candidates.

Actor Kangana Ranaut also filed her nomination as the BJP candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat on Tuesday. She was accompanied by leader of opposition in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Jai Ram Thakur and state BJP chief Rajiv Bindal.

A total of 27 candidates filed their papers on the last day on Tuesday, taking the total number of nominations received for the four Lok Sabha seats and six Assembly bypolls to 84, including eight by women. BJP candidate from Gagret Chaitanya Sharma also filed his nomination on Tuesday. PTI COR BPL RC