The Congress here on Thursday alleged that the ruling BJP tried to kidnap its own rebel leader Dayal Pyari to pressure her to withdraw her nomination papers submitted for the Pachhad assembly bypoll.
The statement came after a video suggesting a kidnapping bid went viral here.
In the video, some people are seen pushing her into a car.
On the other hand, the BJP has refuted the charges.
In a statement, Himachal Congress president Kuldeep Rathore alleged that the BJP tried to kidnap the woman leader in an attempt to force her to withdraw her nomination papers against their official candidate Reena Kashyap.
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When contacted, Himachal BJP chief Satpal Satti denied the allegations.
"We did not try to kidnap her. Yes, we tried to persuade her to withdraw her papers. It was up to her to take the final call," he said.
Former Sirmour Zila Parishad chairperson Dayal Pyari could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
Meanwhile, only rebel BJP leader Ashish Sikta withdrew his papers from the Pachhad (SC) seat.
When asked, Satti said, "We persuaded him to withdraw his papers."
As per reports, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur had spoken to Sikta and Dayal Pyari over the issue.
While Sikta withdrew his nominations papers, Dayal Pyari decided to contest the elections.
A total of 12 candidates have been left in the fray from Pachhad and Dharamsala seats after the scrutiny and withdrawal of nominations, a spokesperson of the state election office said.
The papers of Congress' covering candidate Dinesh Arya were rejected on the day of scrutiny from Pachhad, he said, adding that now five candidates, including Reena Kashyap of the BJP, former minister Gangu Ram Musafir of the Congress and rebel BJP candidate Dayal Pyari, had been left in the fray.
In Dharamsala, seven candidates, including Congress' Vijay Inder Karan and BJP contestant Vishal Nehriya were left in the fray, he said, adding that the candidature of Independent candidate Chokas Bhardwaj was rejected.
The two seats had fell vacant after sitting BJP MLAs Suresh Kashyap (Pachhad) and Kishan Kapoor (Dharamshala) were elected to the Lok Sabha.
The voting will be held on October 21 and the results will be out on October 24.
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