Rift in HP Cong comes to fore as Sudhir refuses to enter poll fray
SHIMLA:WITH just two days left for closure of nomination filing for byelections to Dharamshala and Pachhad assembly segments, the Congress’ Himachal unit appears to be in a quandary as former urban development minister Sudhir Sharma has refused to enter the poll fray this time owing to his “differences” with state party chief Kuldeep Singh Rathore.
Sharma had trounced Kishan Kapoor in the 2012 assembly elections after he shifted from his traditional seat Baijnath.
He was being seen as the party’s foremost choice after Dharamshala seat fell vacant with Kapoor being elected to the Lok Sabha in May. However, Sharma’s differences with Kuldeep Rathore came to the fore when the party organised a function to mark birth anniversary of late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in August, which was skipped by the former urban development minister. Rathore, who is “dependent” on former Himachal chief minister Virbhadra Singh’s clout in the party, had been covertly propagating young Gaddi leader Vijay Karan, besides patting Manoj Kumar Thakur, another such face.
Dharamshala mayor Devender Jaggi, who owes his loyalty to former Union minister for culture Chandresh Kumari, is also keen to contest these byelections.
“I have conveyed to the party high command that it is impossible for me to contest these byelections with the present scenario in the party. I have other choice of candidate. However, I will continue to work for the party,” Sudhir Sharma said. Sharma is learnt to have apprised the party high command about activities of state youth Congress president Manish Thakur. He is upset with the way Thakur has been organising programmes in Dharamshala without taking the parent body into confidence.
NOMINEES TO BE FINALISED BY TODAY: RATHORE
Kuldeep Rathore, who is in the capital along with CLP leader Mukesh Agnihotri to consult senior leaders over ticket allocation, said nominees for both the seats will be finalised on Saturday. “It’s clear now that Sudhir Sharma will not contest elections, so we will pick up other candidate from the list of applicants,” Rathore said, but refused to comment on Sharma’s last-moment denial.
Speculations were also rife that Sudhir Sharma was in touch with the BJP. However, it’s likely that the party will field Gangu Ram Musafir from Pachhad. The 72-year-old is a veteran Congress leader, who had won his first election in 1982 as an Independent. He got re-elected on Congress ticket in 1985, 1990, 1993, 1999 and 2003 and 2007.
He served as the speaker of Himachal Vidhan Sabha from 2003-2008. In 2012 assembly elections, Musafir suffered a drubbing at the hands of BJP’S Suresh Kumar Kashyap. He contested the 2017 elections, but was again defeated by Kashyap. Musafir is considered a staunch loyalist of Virbhadra Singh.
Meanwhile, the BJP is struggling to quell rebel-like situation in the party over ticket allotment as a large section of activists are insisting on choosing a local face.
The BJP has asked its senior leaders from Kangra to pacify local youth leaders. Deputy speaker Hansraj was on Thursday heckled by a group of youths who had been constantly demanding tickets for locals.
The BJP has already formed a panel and forwarded the shortlisted names to high command.