The stakes are high for Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu with his wife in the fray for the Dehra Assembly bypoll. It’s not just a husband campaigning hard for his wife, but also a Chief Minister fighting for his prestige.
The game was on the day Kamlesh Thakur was announced as the Congress candidate from the Dehra Assembly for the bypoll on July 10. She is CM Sukhu’s wife and a novice as this is the first election that she is contesting.
Kamlesh Thakur has been a school teacher and requires no schooling in politics despite staying away from active politics. For about 25 years, Kamlesh has managed her husband’s constituency and knows every nook and corner. Educated in Chandigarh, and belonging to a soldier’s family, Kamlesh gave up her job once she married Sukhu and also to look after her daughters.
Many in the Congress were taken by surprise when Kamlesh was declared as the candidate from Dehra, a seat that the party has never won. On a high after wins in Assembly polls, Sukhu hopes his wife weaves magic and saves his prestige.
When asked whether she can deliver, Kamlesh told News18, “The best experience is in the field.”
Kamlesh is no pushover either. As she walks confidently while campaigning, she said the confidence comes from the fact that “I have been with Sukhu always and we have made many sacrifices. While he needed to focus on his entire state, I looked after his constituency and home.”
Kamlesh has declared a property of Rs 9.14 crore in her affidavit with her two daughters having their shares in it. In his initial days, as Sukhu tried and fought for a foothold in the states politics which were under the grip of Virbhadra Singh, it was Kamlesh who would support the family.
Kamlesh made sure the family held its prestige. Today, it is the same prestige that this “Dehra ki beti” has to protect. Her win would not be just hers, it would add to the might and prestige of Sukhu too. And in return, Sukhu has promised Dehra that if his wife wins, it would become a second CM office.
Known to shoulder the family challenges and storms many a times, Kamlesh Thakur has her task cut out for her – to ensure a win to keep her husband’s detractors away.
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