The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday released a list of nine candidates for the upcoming Assembly election in Sikkim.

Besides, the saffron party announced candidates for by-elections in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal.

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Six Congress rebels, who were disqualified from the assembly, have been fielded by the BJP in Himachal bypoll.

The disqualified MLAs – Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto – joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister and Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur, former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, its national general secretary Arun Singh and state unit president Rajeev Bindal.

They were disqualified by the assembly speaker for defying the party whip, as they voted in favour of the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha election. 

Reacting over this, Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu alleged horsetrading by the BJP, adding that the people will teach them a lesson. "This proves BJP indulged in horsetrading. The people of the state will teach them a lesson," he said while talking with ANI.  

The by-polls for these six seats will be held on June 1, on the day four Lok Sabha constituencies of the hill states are going to vote in the seventh phase of the general elections.

The Election Commission (EC) announced the schedule of Assembly polls, by-elections in several states along with Lok Sabha polls. 

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For Sikkim Assembly polls, the saffron party has fielded Bhim Kumar Sharma from the Gyalshing-Barnyak constituency, Aruna Manger from Namchi-Singhithan, and Yogen Rai from Melli. Phurba Rinzing Sherpa, Pempo Tshering Lepcha, Chewang Dadul Bhutia, and Niren Bhandari among others are also in the fray. 

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