Congress relaxes its one family, one ticket norm

The Congress on Sunday released the second and third lists of candidates for the November 9 assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh which include Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's son Vikramaditya. He will be contesting from Shimla Rural -- a seat his father is currently representing.

The third and final list, announced a few hours after the second list, had only two names -- Vikramaditya Singh and Health Minister Kaul Singh's daughter Champa Thakur who will be contesting from Mandi.

The Congress had initially dithered over fielding Vikramaditya Singh and Champa Thakur, but gave in to pressure at the last minute, party sources said.

According to sources, the Congress was taking seriously its "one family, one ticket" formula, whereby only one member of a family would be made a party candidate. This was the reason for the delay in declaring the candidates for Shimla Rural and Mandi seats.

Earlier in the day, the party released its second list of seven candidates, withholding the names of its nominees for just two seats -- Shimla Rural and Mandi (Sadar). Virbhadra Singh had earlier publicly declared that his son would contest from his seat. The chief minister has moved to the Arki Assembly seat in Solan district and the party has declared his candidature from there. Champa Thakur's father Kaul Singh Thakur has been fielded from the Darang Assembly constituency. Champa Thakur's seat, Mandi, was held by former Union minister Sukh Ram's son Anil Sharma. Anil Sharma has quit the party and is now the BJP candidate from the seat.