Stokes’ last-minute stroke: Back in race

Aditi Tandon & Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi/Shimla, October 23

No, there is no place for a “no” in politics. So, 89-year-old Vidya Stokes may have been categorical about withdrawing from the electoral race this time, but the grand old lady of Himachal politics did a dramatic volte-face just hours before the nomination process for the November 9 Assembly elections was to end on Monday.

It was at about 2.30 pm that Stokes, accompanied by about 15 supporters, quietly drove to the SDM’s office and filed her nomination — even catching some loyalists by surprise. This despite the fact that the Congress had yesterday given the ticket to Deepak Rathore, 45, a youth leader associated with party vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

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Much went on behind the scenes before Stokes decided to re-enter the electoral race. The eight-time MLA’s decision to re-contest was triggered by Rathore’s nomination. Rathore, a commoner, has worked in the Indian Youth Congress for eight years in various capacities. He was Rahul Gandhi’s choice for Theog after Stokes conveyed she would not contest and had left the seat for Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who chose to contest from Arki instead.

Sources said some supporters exerted pressure on Stokes to get Rathore replaced. She spoke to Rahul Gandhi and asked for former HP minister Jai Bihari Lal Khachi’s son Vijay Pal to be named as the candidate from Theog.

Rahul Gandhi is said to have put his foot down and told Stokes that he would change Rathore only if Stokes decided to contest herself. He is learnt to have later conveyed this development to Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, chairman of the Congress screening committee, who then called up Rathore.

Interestingly, Rathore also filed his nomination today. Moments after he filed his papers, Stokes got the official documents from Himachal Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and filed a parallel set.

As of today, Congress has two candidates from Theog. Rathore will be asked to withdraw in favour of Stokes. It is learnt that frantic efforts by Sukhu to convince Stokes to not contest failed to cut ice.

Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi is likely to hold her first rally in Himachal on November 6 at The Ridge in Shimla. Rahul Gandhi’s tentative poll schedule for Himachal is for November 4.

475 file papers for himachal poll 

Shimla: As many as 275 candidates, including former Chief Minister PK Dhumal, state Congress chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and Transport Minister GS Bali, filed their nominations on the last day on Monday. A total of 475 candidates have filed nomination papers for the November 9 elections. The CM’s son, Vikramaditya Singh, and Pramod Sharma of BJP also filed papers from Shimla-Rural on the last day. TNS