Congress panel clears 39 names for HP polls, rest to be reviewed again

CEC approved the names of all the 20 sitting legislators whose names were earlier cleared by the Pradesh election committee (PEC) and later screened by a three-member panel headed by former union minister Deepa Dasmunsi

The Congress Central Election Committee (CEC) on Tuesday approved the names of 39 candidates out of the 68 assembly segments for the upcoming Himachal Pradesh assembly elections in New Delhi.

Representational image.

CEC approved the names of all the 20 sitting legislators whose names were earlier cleared by the Pradesh election committee (PEC) and later screened by a three-member panel headed by former union minister Deepa Dasmunsi.

Congress is likely to release the first list of candidates during the ongoing Navratri festivals. PEC had met in Delhi recently and had cleared the names of the four AICC secretaries, Rajesh Dharmani, Raghubir Bali, Anirudh Singh and Sudhir Sharma. However, CEC has put the candidature of AICC secretary and former urban development minister Sudhir Sharma from Dharamshala on hold. Former Dharamshala mayor Devender Jaggi is also vying for a ticket from Dharamshala.

CEC also could not reach a consensus for the Banjar seat. Speculations were rife that former state BJP president Khimi Ram would be the Congress party’s natural choice, however, the group led by former education minister Karan Singh’s son Adityavikram Singh has been opposing his candidature. CEC has approved the ticket of Bhubneshwar Gaur from Manali form where forest minister Govind Thakur is a legislator.

The meeting was held at Gandhi’s 10, Janpath residence, where senior leaders Ambika Soni, K C Venugopal, Girija Vyas, Mukul Wasnik, Verrappa Moily and Mohsina Kidwai were present.

AICC in-charge for Himachal Pradesh Rajeev Shukla, HP PCC president Pratibha Singh and other leaders were also present.

“Party will not comprise on its winning ability criteria,” said a leader, who attended the meeting requesting anonymity. Congress which had been grappling with intra-party squabbles for a long time, got a shot in the arm when it won three assembly seats – Arki, Fatehpur and Jubbal Kotkhai and one Mandi Lok Sabha seat in bypolls.

Shimla (Urban) seat which received the highest 40 applications still remains undecided, along with Theogh. Former party president Kuldeep Rathore is vying for a ticket from here along with Kehar Singh Khachi, Deepak Rathore and Indu Verma, wife of the former BJP legislator Rakesh Verma, who shot into the political limelight when he defeated Congress stalwart, Vidya Stokes. Congress also finalized the name of former Lok Sabha member and forest minister Chander Kumar from the Jawali, while the name of the former party president and health minister Kaul Singh Thakur was approved from the Drang constituency and the former party president Kuldeep Kumar’s name was cleared from Chintpurni.