Sonia bends on ‘1 ticket for family’, Virbhadra son in fray

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 22

The Congress today released the third and final list for the Himachal Pradesh elections, naming Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s son Vikramaditya as the party candidate from Shimla-Rural. The last list of 59 candidates was issued on October 18 and the delay in naming the remaining nine candidates had caused much consternation in the Virbhadra camp. 

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, after days of deliberation, finally decided to deviate from the ‘one family, one ticket’ rule. The final list comprised only two names — both of wards of senior state leaders who are in the fray for the November 9 polls. Himachal minister Kaul Singh Thakur’s daughter Champa has been fielded from Mandi, the seat held by former CM Sukh Ram’s son Anil Sharma, who recently joined the BJP and is now its Mandi nominee.

Within seconds of being named the candidate, Vikramaditya resigned as the state Youth Congress chief, saying he would not be able to concentrate on organisational matters. The Gandhis bent the ‘one family, one ticket’ norm as there was a feeling that the party could not afford to annoy the CM, who vacated his seat (Shimla-Rural) for his son, having placed the poll campaign in his hands. Interestingly, the last list came an hour after the second list comprising seven candidates and replacing Anni (reserved) nominee Bansi Lal with Paras Ram. The change was triggered by resignations of leaders who objected to Lal’s nomination.

Theog, held by eight-time MLA Vidya Stokes, was finally given to Himachal Youth Congress leader Deepak Rathore, after she bowed out on health grounds. Shahpur has again been allotted to Kewal Singh Pathania. Similarly, Kullu has been allotted to Surinder Thakur, who lost the last  election. Palampur, the seat of outgoing MLA and Speaker BBL Butail, has been given to his son Ashish although his nephew Gokul was the preferred candidate. 

Hari Chand Sharma, a grassroots worker, is the Congress nominee from Manali. while Vivek Sharma has been fielded from Kutlehar, the seat his father has unsuccessfully contested in the past. Lakhwinder Rana will contest from Nalagarh. A perusal of the Congress list shows the average age of the contestants this time is 57 years. The percentage of women candidates is a poor  4.4, a far cry from the party’s promise of 33%. The filing of nominations ends tomorrow.