Congress candidate Pratibha Singh on Thursday filed her nomination papers for the Mandi parliamentary by-election in the presence of her husband, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh who later appealed to the people to vote for her to make Congress stronger.
Accompanied by ch Chief MinisterVirbhadra Singh, State president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and senior minister Kaul Singh Thakur, who hails from Mandi district, the Congress candidate went to file her nomination papers with the returning officer.
However, no central leaders were present on the occasion even though former union telecom minister Pandit Sukhram was seen in the rally held after filing of nomination papers. The entire State Ministry was there in the rally where leaders sought votes for Pratibha Singh.
Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister said that people of Mandi parliamentary constituencies have always shown their love towards Congress and hoped this time also they will come out and vote in large number to strengthen the party’s hand.
He said that unlike previous BJP Government which favoured a few, Congress Government in the State is working day and night to reach to the common man and provide the benefits of good governance.
Chief Minister said that his wife Pratibha Singh is not new to Mandi and she had represented and made the voice of the people heard in Parliament effectively.
Sukhu in his address said that Congress has adopted a stand of zero tolerance against corruption and corrupt
practices and scams done
during the previous BJP Government are being probed in time bound manner, so that people come to know the truth and guilty are punished.
However, the star attraction for Congress rally was the veteran Pandit Sukhram, whose relationship with the Chief Minister was never
considered good. Sukhram on Thursday batted for Pratibha Singh and appealed to the people to vote for her in large number.
EC forms Flying squads to monitor expenses
Shimla: The Election Commission has issued directions for constituting Flying Squads and static surveillance teams for monitoring election expenditure during Mandi parliamentary constituency by-poll. Chief Electoral Officer Narendra Chauhan said that three or four flying squads would be deployed in every constituency from the date of notification of election till the polling process was over. The teams could be deployed as per requirement in the sensitive areas and the areas which were expected to expend more during elections. These squads will also keep strict vigil on anti-social elements and those involved in giving or taking graft. Chauhan said that the candidates contesting lok Sabha polls could spend a maximum of Rs 40 lakhs as election expenditure.