Didn't want my wife to contest polls, but Cong brass insisted: HP CM Sukhu

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Congress leader and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu Wednesday said he did not want his wife to contest elections, but the party high command insisted she should, and announced her candidature for the Dehra assembly seat bypoll.

Sukhu's wife Kamlesh Thakur's name appear in the list of candidates released by Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Tuesday.

She has been fielded from the Dehra seat against two-time Independent MLA Hoshiyar Singh, who is contesting this election on a BJP ticket.

"I was not willing that my wife contests elections but could not refuse to the Congress High command" Sukhu told reporters late on Tuesday night.

He said the party leadership had told him during the Lok Sabha elections too that Thakur should contest the elections "but I was not willing".

"This time again when the High Command insisted, I could not refuse" given what the political scenario in the state demanded.

He said his wife emerged as the front-runner in the party survey but he still did not want her to contest as he believed only one person from the family to be in politics.

"But given the political scenario in the state, we needed a strong candidate to contest from the Dehra assembly constituency," he said. "My wife hails from Dehra, her family members live there and even the panchayat representatives wanted her to contest and I could not say no to the High Command."

"I had earlier said that 'Dehra is mera' and my wife would represent me in Dehra for the next three-and-a-half years and ensure development of the area," Sukhu added.