DHARAMSHALA: Palampur in Himachal Pradesh is set to witness an interesting contest in the Assembly polls scheduled for November 9, when two new faces from the ruling Congress party and the opposition BJP will fight a former MLA. Sharma is believed to be close to veteran BJP leader Shanta Kumar, a two-time Himachal Pradesh chief minister. She is said to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with whom she worked when he was party in-charge of Himachal Pradesh. His father is a respected leader, but the issue of the Congress party promoting dynastic politics has not gone down well with party workers. Ashish Butail's father won the Palampur assembly seat five times out of the 11 elections held after the inclusion of the Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh from Punjab in 1966.

Source: Economic Times October 29, 2017 05:15 UTC