This time the Congress has replaced its candidate Pratibha Kumari, erstwhile Rani of Bushar, with Kaul Singh Thakur to take on senior BJP leader and former Raja of Kullu, Maheshwar singh.

Ravi Thakur of Nationalist Congress Party and an Independent are also in the fray, though the main contest is between the Congress and the BJP.

Kaul Singh and Maheshwar Singh had entered electoral politics together in 1977, riding the crest of Janata wave.

Both were elected to the Vidhan Sabha as Janata Dal candidates. Later Kaul Singh, elected from Drang segment in Mandi district defected to the Congress, while Maheshwar Singh, elected from Banjjar in Kullu district joined the BJP after split in the Janata Party in 1980.

Rajkumari Amrit Kaur was elected as Congress candidate in 1952, Tikka Joginder Sen of Suket in 1957 and his son Tikka Lalit Sen in 1962 and 1967. Former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, a former ruler of Bushar, was elected in 1971 and 1980 and Maheshwar Singh of BJP in 1989 and 1998.

Virbhadra Singh was defeated in 1977 while Maheshwar Singh lost to Sukh Ram in 1991. Except for 1984 and 1996, potential candidates from princely families were always in the fray.

With the exit of former Union communication minister Sukh Ram, who had won the 1996 elections by a margin of over 1.51 lakh votes and retired in favour of Maheshwar Singh in 1998 elections, facilitating his easy victory, the scales appeared to have tilted against the Congress, which had won this seat nine Times.

The ruling BJP is being supported by strongman of Mandi, Sukh Ram, who was intensively campaigning for Maheshwar Singh to defeat Kaul Singh, his main detractor in local Congress politics.

Of the 17 Assembly segments falling within this parliamentary constituency, five were represented by Congress, eleven by BJP-HVC combine and one seat by the speaker of the Vidhan Sabha.

Like in other parts of the state, Kargil, stability, corruption and performance of BJP and Congress governments had emerged as main issues during the campaign but local factors also played a part.