Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Himachal Congress is heading for another showdown on the issue of ‘outsiders’ as party candidates for lok Sabha election, as the party has made it clear that no paratrooper will be given tickets.
Virbhadra Singh had recently come out in support of independent MlA Rajendra Rana as Congress candidate from Hamirpur parliamentary seat, saying that he is the best option available for the party on the seat.
With Chief Minister expressing support to Rana, a section of senior party leaders have also come out in support of him. Rana is a former aide of ex-Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and currently represents Sujanpur Assembly constituency of Hamirpur district.
On Monday, Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) chief Sukhwinder Sukhu categorically said that no ‘outsider’ will be given lok Sabha tickets. “Preference would be given to individuals, who have long association with the party and not ‘outsiders’ while selecting candidates for lok Sabha seats,” said Sukhu.
He said “winnability” would be the main criterion and tickets would be given to Congressmen . “Ticket will be declared soon and preference would be given to the Congress loyalists,” he said.
Sukhu said that he was not against any leader from outside the party but being a party president his first duty was to strengthen the party and there were several ‘winnable’ candidates within the party.
Replying to questions about Union Minister Chandresh Kumari contesting election from Kangra parliamentary seat, he said that her name was discussed in the meeting of central election committee (CEC) of party held in New Delhi recently.
“Chandresh Kumari is a Congress leader from Himachal Pradesh and has remained lok Sabha member from Kangra,” added Sukhu. He added that party is working hard to make the rally of party vice president Rahul Gandhi a major success.
“Rahul Gandhi’s rally will be historic and party has assigned duties of office bearers for mobilizing the people for the rally, which is scheduled for March 8,” said Sukhu adding that Rajya Sabha member Viplove Thakur will look after the arrangements in Dehra, Jaswan Pragpur and Jawalamukhi assembly segment, power minister Sujan Singh Pathania, HPCC general secretaries Harshvardhan Chauhan and Sunder Thakur were assigned for Fatehpur, Jawali, Nurpur, Indora and Shahpur Assembly constituency.