Battle lines drawn in HP as Cong, BJP name candidates

LISTS OUT BJP banks on old guard; Cong sticks to ‘one family, one ticket’ rule in first list

SHIMLA: The die is cast for the November 9 Himachal assembly elections with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) declaring all 68 candidates and the Congress announcing names of its 56 nominees.

While the BJP retained old faces, the Congress too has fielded all its sitting MLAS, barring irrigation and public health minister Vidya Stokes, 89, who offered not to contest elections this time.

Former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and state party chief Satpal Singh Satti are among the BJP candidates. The party is silent on declaring the chief ministerial candidate.

The list also includes names of Anil Sharma, Congress veteran Sukhram’s son, who quit his party recently to join the BJP.

While former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal will contest from Sujanpur instead of Hamirpur, CM Virbhadra Singh has thrown his hat in the ring from Arki in Solan district instead of Shimla (rural), the seat, sources say, he has kept for his son Vikramaditya Singh, whose name is likely to be announced in the party’s second list.

State Congress chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu will contest from Nadaun, All India Congress Committee secretary Asha Kumari from Dalhousie and Rajya Sabha member Viplove Thakur from Dehra.

Union health minister JP Nadda, who was seen as one of the choices for the post of chief minister if the saffron party comes back to power, will not contest the assembly elections.

Besides Shimla (rural) and Mandi, the Congress will declare candidates for Theog, Shahpur, Balh, Sarkaghat, Bhoranj, Kutlehar, Palampur, Manali, Kullu, Mandi and Nalagarh in the second list.

In the first list, the party gave a go by to the kin factor.

The party objected tickets to Nikhil Rajour, former MLA and Viplove’s brother. It is learnt that Sukhu was interested getting a ticket for his wife Kamlesh from Nadaun while forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmauri was keen to field his son Pankaj Pakhretia.

The first list did not mention the name of Champa Thakur, daughter of state health minister Kaul Singh Thakur, who was likely to contest from Mandi.