Congress candidate from Theog Assembly seat in Himachal: Deepak Rathore

Deepak Rathore would be contesting the Himachal Pradesh Assembly constituency 2017 from Theog Assembly Constituency on a Congress ticket.

Theog seat had been a bastion of veteran Congress leader Vidya Stokes. 90-years-old Stokes had told Congress President Sonia Gandhi that she would retire from electoral politics and had proposed the name of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for Theog. However, Singh filed his nomination papers from Arki in Solan district and recommended the name of Rathore for Theog.

Stokes then decided to that she would contest from Theog Assembly seat as she had left the seat only for Virbhadra Singh. At the time of filing nomination, Stokes' nomination was rejected by the Theog sub-divisional magistrate, who is also the returning officer for the constituency, stating that her nomination papers were not right. Eventually, Rathore, who was Stokes' covering candidate, got to contest from Theog seat.

45-year-old Deepak Rathore is a close aide of Rahul Gandhi. He has worked in Delhi for the youth Congress for over a decade. Rahul Gandhi may address a rally in Theog as past of Rathore's election campaign.

Theog is a town and a municipal committee in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh.

OneIndia News