After being denied the party ticket, the Congress MLA from Pragpur, Yog Raj, has announced to contest the Assembly elections from Dehra as an Independent. Yog Raj alleged that he had become the victim of a conspiracy hatched by a section of Congress leaders.
Yog Raj directly blamed former Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee chief Viplove Thakur for denying him the party ticket. He planned a meeting of workers in Dehra tomorrow to exhibit his strength in the area.
He also alleged that the only logic of denying him the party ticket was that Dehra had been de-reserved. Yog Raj was earlier elected on the Congress ticket from Pragpur, a reserved constituency. After delimitation, it was de-reserved and renamed as Jaswan-Pragpur. Yog Raj had staked his claim to the ticket from Dehra on the plea that most areas of the Pragpur constituency were now a part of the Dehra constituency.
The Congress MLA issued a warning that denying him the party ticket would affect the prospects of the party in the Jaswan-Pragpur constituency too as he held considerable sway in the area.
Yog Raj is considered to be a close confidant of Virbhadra Singh. Since the seat was not reserved, the Congress decided to field a general category candidate. The party decided to field Brig (retd) Rajinder Rana from Dehra.
