LS polls: Cong leader Vikramaditya Singh files nomination from Mandi

Himachal Pradesh Public works minister and Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh on Thursday filed his nomination papers from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat.

He was accompanied by his mother and the state Congress chief Pratibha Singh, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Congress Working Committee member and in-charge Himachal, Rajiv Shukla.

Mandi would be made a smart city and Jalori Jot tunnel would be constructed on the line of the Rohtang tunnel. The remote Pangi area of Chamba would be would also be connected through the tunnel, Singh told PTI.

"I would take forward the long and deep relation with the people of Mandi", the Congress candidate, who is the son of late chief minister Virbhadra Singh, said.

Scion of erstwhile Rampur estate, Singh is pitted against actor and BJP candidate Kangana Ranaut.

Elaborating on the achievements of the Congress, Singh said the party has opened IIT at Mandi, a medical college at Nerchowk and been instrumental in construction of the Kirathpur-Nerchowk four lane.

"We stood with the people of Mandi during the worst monsoon disaster last year and will continue to be with them", he added.

Besides the development agenda, long pending matters related to Good and Service tax, revenue deficit grant and old pension scheme would also be taken up with the Union government after the party wins, he assured the people of Mandi.

"Change of winds are visible in the country and after the first three phases of Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has been washed out in the South and halved in the North", he claimed.

The Congress government in the state would continue with its development and welfare agenda for the next three-and-a-half years, he said while exuding confidence that his party would also win all the six assembly seats in the bypolls.