DHARAMSHALA: The Congress has announced its candidates for Lahaul-Spiti and Barsar Assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh, but the party continues to be in a dilemma in Dharamshala, a high-stakes seat represented by outgoing MLA Sudhir Sharma whom Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has accused of masterminding the conspiracy to topple his government.
The Congress late on Sunday (May 5, 2024) night announced candidates for two of the three Assembly seats, of the total six where byelections are scheduled on June 1. Zila parishad member Anuradha Rana has been fielded from Lahaul-Spiti and Subhash Chand from Barsar in Hamirpur district. The party had earlier announced Rakesh Kalia as its candidate from Gagret, Ranjit Rana from Sujanpur and Vivek Sharma from Kutlehar.
Ex-Mayor, former MLA’s son in fray
In Dharamshala, the contenders for the Congress ticket include former Mayor Devendra Jaggi; 2019 Assembly bypoll nominee Vijay Inder Karan, Tribal Congress national member Manoj Thakur and former District Congress Committee general secretary Rajneesh Padha, who is also the son of former MLA Mulraj Padha. The name of BJP rebel Rakesh Chaudhary is also doing the rounds and he had reportedly met Chief Minister Sukhu during his recent visit to Dharamshala.
Though the ruling Congress is aiming to win all six Assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh where the byelections are scheduled on June 1, defending the Sujanpur and Dharamshala constituencies has become a prestige battle for Chief Minister Sukhu. All the six seats were won by the Congress in the 2022 Assembly elections and were vacated by dissident leaders who strongly criticised CM Sukhu’s allegedly dictatorial way of functioning.
Prestige battle for Himachal CM
The rebel MLAs — Sudhir Sharma (Dharamshala), Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur), Inder Dutt Lakhanpal (Barsar), Ravi Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti MLA), Chaitanya Sharma (Gagret) and Davinder Kumar Bhutto (Kutlehar) —were disqualified from the Vidhan Sabha for allegedly violating a party whip on voting during the budget session. All the six rebel MLAs subsequently joined the BJP and have been fielded by the saffron party from their respective seats, leading to rebellion in its own ranks.
Rajinder Rana and Sudhir were the most vocal against the Sukhu regime, accusing it of being ignorant of the ground realities. CM Sukhu, on his part, accused the duo of masterminding the conspiracy to topple a “democratically elected government”. He alleged that of the six rebels, Rana and Sudhir were paid the highest amount for voting against their parent party in the Rajya Sabha election. The Congress has even started an “Aaya Rana Gaya Rana” campaign, synonymous with “Aaya Ram Gaya Ram” slogan, often used to target turncoats.
Sudhir was most vocal against govt
Both Sudhir and Rana have been miffed with Sukhu over the denial of a place in the Himachal cabinet. By ensuring the party’s victory in Sujanpur and Dharamshala, Sukhu would not only be looking to strengthen his position in the Congress, but also prove his detractors wrong that he was right in denying the duo ministerial berths.
CM Sukhu would also be looking to avenge the huge embarrassment he had to face following the Congress’ loss in the recent Rajya Sabha election for the lone seat from Himachal. All the six disqualified Congress MLAs had cross-voted in favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan, who won despite his party having 25 MLAs compared to 40 of the ruling Congress. Mahajan defeated Congress nominee Abhishek Manu Singhvi through a draw of lots as both polled 34 votes after the three Independent MLAs also supported the BJP.
