No age bar to contest Lok Sabha polls: BJP leader

Shimla, Feb 8 (IANS) In a clear signal to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veterans, party in-charge for Himachal Pradesh Tirath Singh Rawat on Friday said there would be no age bar for candidates to contest the Lok Sabha elections.

Rawat was categorically clear in saying that "there is no such norm of age for a candidate to contest the polls".

He was here for a meeting with party leaders.

Rawat's assertions is a clear indication for party veterans like two-time former Chief Ministers Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal to contest the elections to he held this year, admitted a senior BJP leader.

Kumar, 84, is currently the Member of Parliament from Kangra, while Dhumal, 74, lost the 2017 Assembly elections.

Kumar has been saying he may stay away from electoral politics this time and has left the final decision to the party high command.

Dhumal, who led the party in the Assembly elections, has been marginalised in state politics since he lost the Sujanpur seat.

Himachal Pradesh has four Lok Sabha seats and all are represented by the BJP.

Patting the back of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, Rawat told reporters that the BJP government has been doing a good job in the state.

"We will go to the polls on the development plank of both the Central and state governments," he said.

The BJP leader said the party's Parliamentary Board would take the final call on the candidates for the Lok Sabha polls.