Shimla:

On Saturday, Vikramaditya Singh, the Congress minister of state and the figurehead of the erstwhile Bush princely state, faced off against the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate and actor Kangana Ranaut. A scuffle is about to unfold at the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh.

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Historically, the Mandi constituency has favored the descendants of the erstwhile princely state, electing members of the royal family in 13 of 19 elections, including two by-elections since 1952.

Vikramaditya Singh, a two-time MLA from Shimla (rural) assembly segment, is not new to the assembly constituency as both his father and mother have won the seat thrice. Mr. Singh campaigned extensively for his mother in the 2021 Lok Sabha by-elections.

Even before he announced his candidacy, Vikramaditya Singh had a spat with the actor-politician famous for the Bollywood film “Queen” and no action was taken by either party.

Last Thursday, Kangana Ranaut launched a blistering attack on Vikramaditya Singh, saying: “This is not your father’s or grandfather’s legacy and you will threaten me and send me back.

The BJP candidate’s retaliation came in response to Vikramaditya Singh’s mocking of his remarks on beef eating a few days ago.

Mr. Singh said, “I pray to Lord Ram to grant her wisdom and hope that she comes back to Bollywood from ‘Dev Bhoomi’ Himachal Pradesh as she will not win the election as she is so important to the people of Himachal Pradesh Nothing.”

She asked him why he hadn’t produced evidence that she ate beef.

“I made a name for myself in the film industry without the help of my parents… I wanted to join politics and serve the people,” she said, asserting that politics was an expression of service and anyone from a king to a noble could do it. Beggars have a right to use this expression.

Factors favoring Kangana Ranaut include former Himachal Pradesh chief minister and senior BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur’s control of Mandi and the fact that the party won all the parliamentary constituencies Nine parliamentary seats.

BJP leader Khushal Thakur, a Kargil war hero, lost the Lok Sabha by-election polls in November 2021 to Pratibha Singh by a margin of 7,490 votes ( Pratibha Singh, who extended his support to Ms Ranaut. “There are more than one lakh ex-servicemen in this parliamentary constituency,” he earlier told Press Trust of India.

Separately, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, figurehead Kullu Maheshwar Singh, who had previously opposed Ms Ranaut’s candidacy, has now extended his support to her.

Of the 17 assembly segments under Mandi Lok Sabha seats, eight are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes.

Since 1952, the parliamentary seat has been represented by Raj Kumai Amrit Kaur of Kapurthala dynasty and Raja Joginder Sen Bahadur of Mandi princely state once each, Raja Lalit Sen of Surjit twice, Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh each three times, and Maheshwar Singh three times.

The exceptions are three-time Mandi MP and former Union minister Sukh Ram, two-time winner Ram Swarup and Ganga Singh, who are not from the royal family.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)