Shot in arm for Congress as seven-time Himachal MLA Gangu Ram Musafir returns to party fold

Gangu Ram Musafir had contested the 2022 Himachal assembly election as an independent from Pachhad in Sirmaur district after Congress gave a ticket to BJP turncoat Dayal Pyari.

Congress on Saturday received a shot in the arm ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Himachal as veteran politician and former minister Gangu Ram Musafir returned to the party fold.

Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu flanked by Congress candidates from Shimla and Mandi, Vinod Sultanpuri and Vikramaditya Singh, during a meeting in Shimla. (PTI)

Musafir, a seven-term MLA, had contested the 2022 assembly election as an independent from Pachhad in Sirmaur district, after the party gave a ticket to Bharatiya Janata Party turncoat Dyal Puri.

Before being defeated by Suresh Kumar in 2012, Musafir had emerged victorious from the Pachhad seat on seven occasions since 1982. In 1982, Musafir contested as an independent candidate and won, but contested on a Congress ticket starting 1985.

His return is expected to bolster Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in the Sirmaur area of the Shimla parliamentary constituency, from where the Congress has fielded Vinod Sultanpuri as its candidate.

On his return to the party fold, Congress Himachal chief Pratibha Singh said, “The return of the veteran leader Gangu Ram Musafir, who had contested the previous election as an independent candidate, was necessary. He has returned to the party and we feel proud about it. The Congress workers and senior leaders of that segment wanted him to return and are happy now.”

Congress meanwhile held the meeting of Shimla parliamentary constituency on Saturday to chalk-out its strategy to contest the polls. It comes a day after a similar meeting of the Mandi parliamentary constituency was held.