16-member panel formed to shortlist nominees: Satti

Our Correspondent

UNA, OCTOBER 8

Una MLA and state BJP president Satpal Singh Satti today said that he has constituted a 16-member committee of senior party functionaries of the state to shortlist probable party candidates for the forthcoming Assembly elections. Addressing media persons here, he said that the shortlisted names would be forwarded to the party high command for final approval. The first meeting of the committee will be held next week.

Satti said besides him, the other members of the committee are former chief ministers Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal, Union Minister JP Nadda, Lok Sabha MPs Virender Kashyap, Ram Swarup Sharma and Anurag Thakur, state party organising secretary Pawan Rana, MLAs Randhir Sharma, Jai Ram Thakur, Vipin Parmar and Rajiv Bindal, former Rajya Sabha MP Kirpal Parmar, besides party leaders Indu Goswami, Chander Mohan and Ram Singh.

Reacting to Congress rally at Mandi, Satti charged that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had only misled the people of the state by giving false information. He said Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Gujarat government had shut down a number of government schools, but he did not know that the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh had closed 207 schools during the last five years.

He said while patting the back of the Congress government, Rahul Gandhi should also have known that the Gudia episode in Kotkhai had unveiled the real face of the Congress leaders as they were trying to shield the accused persons.

He said Rahul Gandhi also failed to note that various types of mafias were rampant in the state and heinous crimes against women, forest employees and weaker sections of the society had increased, while drugs and liquor were being sold openly.

Satti said Rahul Gandhi should also have known that CM Virbhadra Singh and his family members are out on bail, facing serious charges of corruption. He added that senior Congress leader Ram Lal Thakur had recently alleged that Congress MLA Bumber Thakur had illegally amassed property worth Rs 200 crores, while former Congress minister Vijay Singh Mankotia has also leveled corruption charges on the CM.

The committee

Former CMs Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal, Union Minister JP Nadda, Lok Sabha MPs Virender Kashyap, Ram Swarup Sharma and Anurag Thakur, state party organising secretary Pawan Rana, MLAs Randhir Sharma, Jai Ram Thakur, Vipin Parmar and Rajiv Bindal, former Rajya Sabha MP Kirpal Parmar, besides party leaders Indu Goswami, Chander Mohan and Ram Singh are the members of the panel.