Cong chucks out 17 rebels

Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 11

As rebels have played spoilsport in almost six Assembly segments, the Congress today expelled 17 of its senior leaders in Dharamsala, Kutlehar and Jogindernagar constituencies for six years.

The expelled Congress councillors from Shimla were working against the party’s official nominee Harbhajan Singh Bhajji. The expelled councillors are Archana Dhawan, Inderjit Singh and Ashok Sood. The action against these party leaders has been taken for supporting independent candidate Harish Janartha from Shimla (Urban), who was contesting against Bhajji.

The Congress has, in the last five years, taken a serious view on the issue of taking back rebels, giving importance to loyalty towards the party. Many leaders, including several former MLAs like Yog Raj and Mast Ram, who had contested the 2012 polls or worked against the party nominees, were not taken back. In fact, many leaders are still awaiting induction into the party and this was a major sore point between Chief Ministre Virbhadra Singh and state Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu.The Congress, in its proforma prepared for the candidates keen to get the party ticket, had included a column in which complete details of having ever left the party had been sought. This was to take into consideration the fact if the ticket aspirant had been loyal to the party or not. Prominent among those expelled from the Congress in Dharamsala include Digvijay Puri, Arun Bisht, Baldev Chaudhary, Arvind Gupta, Rajnish Padha and Durgesh Nandini. Those leaders, who have been expelled from the Kutlehar segment, include Sumit Sharma, Ranbir Rana and Sanjeev Saini.

The Congress also expelled Kamal Pathania from Hamirpur. Others who faced action in Jogindernagar include Surender Pal Thakur, Vimla Chauhan, Kehar Singh and Ravinder Pal.

Those expelled...

• The expelled Congress councillors from Shimla, who were working against the party’s official nominee Harbhajan Singh Bhajji, are Archana Dhawan, Inderjit Singh and Ashok Sood.
• Prominent among those expelled from the Congress in Dharamsala include Digvijay Puri, Arun Bisht, Baldev Chaudhary, Arvind Gupta, Rajnish Padha and Durgesh Nandini. 
• Those who have been expelled from the Kutlehar segment are Sumit Sharma, Ranbir Rana and Sanjeev Saini.
• The Congress also expelled Kamal Pathania from Hamirpur. 
• Others who faced action in Jogindernagar are Surender Pal Thakur, Vimla Chauhan, Kehar Singh and Ravinder Pal.