TNR Desk
The Congress is holding discussions in Delhi on Saturday (April 6, 2024) regarding the allocation of tickets for the Lok Sabha poll and Assembly byelections in Himachal Pradesh.
The first round of discussion, chaired by Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and state in-charge Rajeev Shukla, was held in the afternoon and another meeting is scheduled for 6 pm to reach a consensus on ticket distribution.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Congress state president Pratibha Singh, Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri, Health Minister Dhaniram Shandil and senior leader Kaul Singh Thakur are among the leaders from Himachal summoned to Delhi for the meeting.
The names of sitting MP Pratibha Singh from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat and former MLA Satpal Raizada from Hamirpur are considered final. However, there are still concerns in Kangra and Shimla. Some Congress leaders are advocating for offering the Shimla ticket to BJP’s two-time MP Virendra Kashyap, but the party fears internal dissent due to his potential candidacy.
In the event of no consensus on Virendra Kashyap, Dayal Pyari is likely to secure the ticket. Additionally, Amit Nanda and former MLA Sohan Lal are also contenders for the Shimla parliamentary seat.
Former minister and six-time MLA Asha Kumari is a strong candidate for the Kangra seat. However, the Congress would want to field a candidate from Kangra district due to its political significant owing to large number of Assembly constituencies. Asha Kumar hails from Chamba district, which has fewer Assembly seats within the Kangra parliamentary constituency.
In the assembly by-elections, Vivek Sharma from Kutlehar and Devinder Jaggi from Dharamshala are almost certain to get the ticket. In Sujanpur, the Congress may field Kuldeep Pathania against Rajinder Rana. Other contenders for the Sujanpur ticket include former district president Naresh Thakur and Ravindra Verma.
In Gagret, the Congress may recommend Raman Jaswal due to the dominance of Rajput voters. The name of former MLA Manjit Singh Dogra from Barsar Assembly in Hamirpur district is also being discussed. In Lahaul-Spiti, the Congress is considering nominating BJP rebel Ramlal Markanda.
