BJP discusses LS election results, probables for 3 Assembly bypoll

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, June 11

The BJP Legislature Party today reviewed the party’s performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections and the six Assembly byelections at a meeting held here today. It also discussed the names of probable candidates and preparedness for the three more Assembly bypoll.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur here. The two newly elected MLAs, Sudhir Sharma (Dharamsala) and ID Lakhanpal (Barsar), did not attend the meeting as they were in New Delhi to meet the central party leaders.

The two BJP legislators along with the four newly elected Congress MLAs – Rakesh Kalia (Gagret), Anuradha Rana (Lahaul-Spiti), Ranjit Rana (Sujanpur) and Vivek Sharma (Kutlehar) – will take oath in the Vidhan Sabha tomorrow.

The BJP core group will also be meeting here tomorrow under the chairmanship of state party president Rajeev Bindal. It is nearly certain that the BJP will field the three former Independent MLAs — Hoshiyar Singh, KL Thakur and Ashish Sharma — but the issue could come up for discussion formally.

Party sources said that the BJP would honour its commitment of fielding all three former Independent MLAs, who had joined the party. Though there is speculation that the defeat in four of the six Assembly byelections could force the BJP to rethink its strategy, it is unlikely to happen. However, the fear of undercutting by disgruntled party workers in protest against ticket allotment to the three former Independent MLAs is already haunting the BJP.

Both BJP and Congress are keen to finalise the candidates at the earliest as the byelections in the three Assembly segments of Nalagarh (Solan), Hamirpur and Dehra (Kangra) are scheduled to be held on July 10.

The Congress Legislature Party will be meeting tomorrow to discuss the names of the probable candidates though it is the party high command that in consultation with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu will finalise the ticket for the bypoll. The dismal performance of the Congress in 61 of the 68 Assembly segments in the parliamentary elections is also likely to be discussed at tomorrow’s meeting.

With less than a month to go for the three bypoll, the Congress will chalk out its strategy for ensuring victory so that it can consolidate its position in the Assembly further. The Congress has a strength of 38 in the 68-member Vidhan Sabha while the BJP has 27 MLAs.