Eying LS ticket, Maheshwar, Chandel in touch with Cong

Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service
Shimla, February 19

Senior BJP leaders and former state presidents of the BJP, Suresh Chandel and Maheshwar Singh are holding parleys with the Congress to switch sides and contest the Lok Sabha elections from Hamirpur and Mandi parliamentary segments.

Incidentally, both have worked as BJP state president and MP in their long political careers. Chandel (60), a three-time BJP MP who also remained the state president of the party from 1998 to 2000, has met the Central leadership of the Congress besides being in regular touch with state Congress leaders, including Virbhadra Singh and AICC In-charge Rajni Patil.

Similarly, Maheshwar Singh (70), scion of the erstwhile royal family of Kullu, is learnt to be in touch with Congress leadership. He has been elected to the Lok Sabha thrice (1989, 1998, 1999), was a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1992 and remained the BJP state chief twice. Even though there will be stiff opposition from the local units to taking these two BJP leaders the Congress could play the card to send across a signal that tall RSS leaders are also quitting BJP to join the Congress. However, sources said the two leaders would join the Congress only if they are given the party ticket for the Lok Sabha elections.

Maheshwar Singh had even floated his own political outfit, Himachal Lokhit Party just before the 2012 Assembly polls following differences with the then Chief Minister PK Dhumal. He had won the Assembly elections from Kullu on the Himachal Lokhit Party but returned back to the BJP fold close to the 2017 elections. However, he lost the elections and is now contemplating joining the Congress as BJP is unlikely to field him from Mandi seat in place if sting MP Ram Swaroop.

There could also be reluctance to Chandel as his name had figured in the “cash for query” scam in the Parliament. With Nadda calling the shots in Bilaspur, Chandel has little chances of getting re-established and the chances of BJP denying ticket to its sitting MP Anurag Thakur are quite bleak.

With there being reluctance among the Congress stalwarts, be it Virbhadra Singh or Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri to take the electoral plunge in the parliamentary elections, the Congress is open to the idea of taking the two leaders. “Both have contested three Lok Sabha elections, have remained state BJP presidents. So it is certainly not a bad idea to induct them into Congress,” said a senior Congress leader on condition of anonymity.

However, whether the Congress will be willing to field BJP leaders in the polls is a question which still remains wide open. The Congress has in the past opened its doors to Narinder Thakur, son of BJP stalwart Jagdev Chand Thakur, who returned to the BJP and is now the sitting MLA from Hamirpur.

About Suresh Chandel
Suresh Chandel (60), a three-time BJP MP, has remained the state president of the party from 1998 to 2000. Chandel’s name had figured in the “cash for query” scam in the Parliament. With Union Minister JP Nadda calling the shots in Bilaspur, Chandel has little chance of getting re-established and the chances of BJP denying ticket to its sitting MP Anurag Thakur are bleak.

About Maheshwar Singh 
Maheshwar Singh (70), the scion of the erstwhile royal family of Kullu, has been elected to the Lok Sabha thrice (1989, 1998, 1999). He was a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1992 and remained the BJP state chief twice. Maheshwar had floated his own Himachal Lokhit Party just before the 2012 Assembly poll. He had won the elections from Kullu but returned to the BJP fold close to the 2017 elections.