5 Facts On Rakesh Pathania, BJP Candidate From Himachal's Fatehpur Seat

The BJP has announced the names of its candidates for all 68 seats in the upcoming Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections. The elections in the state will take place in a single phase on November 12 and the results will be announced on December 8.

Rakesh Pathania, a three-time BJP MLA from the Nurpur constituency, has been given a ticket from the Fatehpur constituency this time. He will face Congress's Bhawani Singh Pathania.

• Rakesh Pathania has won the Nurpur seat three times. He is the Minister of Forest, Youth Services and Sports in the Jai Ram Thakur government in Himachal Pradesh.
• He is also an executive member of the Himachal Pradesh BJP.
• In the 2017 state assembly elections, Rakesh Pathania defeated Congress' Ajay Mahajan to claim the Nurpur seat. Rakesh Pathania got a total of 34,871 votes. Whereas, Mr Mahajan's vote count stood at 28,229.
• Rakesh Pathania was born in 1964. The BJP veteran also owns a dairy business. 
• Rakesh Pathania contested the 2007 Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections as an Independent candidate from the Nurpur constituency and won with a margin of 4165 votes.