No Cong leader ready to contest against Anurag Thakur in Hamirpur: HP CM

No Congress leader is ready to contest against Hamirpur's sitting BJP MP Anurag Thakur, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur claimed Thursday.

The Congress is still looking for a suitable candidate as no one wants to contest from the Hamirpur seat," Thakur told reporters on the sidelines of a BJP's women wing function here.

On the return of former Union Telecom Minister Sukh Ram to the Congress, he said it would not affect the BJP's poll prospects in Mandi as he has "made a mockery of himself and his family".

The BJP would win the Mandi Lok Sabha seat with a thumping majority, he claimed.

On sitting Shimla MP Virendra Kashyap's "failure" to campaign for party nominee Suresh Kashyap for the seat, Thakur said the outgoing MP had sought some time from the party on this issue.

Addressing the BJP's women unit's function, the chief minister said with the women's support for the BJP in the state, the party would repeat its 2014 performance and win all four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh.

The function was also attended by former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and the state's BJP women wing chief Indu Goswami, among others.

He said the BJP nominee Anurag Thakur from Hamirpur has tirelessly worked for the youths and the women in the state and said that they would ensure his victory with big a margin.