Congress considering changing Lahaul-Spiti candidate
Shimla: There being a month’s gap between the first phase of electioneering and the second, BJP and Congress are in the midst of finalizing the party nominees for the tribal seats of Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Bharmaur.
Congress sources disclosed that the party was considering changing the Lahaul-spiti candidate. It may be mentioned that where as the party has received only two applications for the Bharmaur seat, three for the Kinnaur seat, there are as many as 8 aspirants for the Lahaul-Spiti seat. Besides Raghubir Thakur, the sitting MLA, the other front runners for the party ticket for Lahaul-Spiti being considered are former member parliament Phun Chukh Rai and former chief secretary AN Vidyarathi. Another name coming up is that of Ravi Thakur.
Regarding the Bharmaur seat, in all probability the sitting MLA Thakur Singh Bharmauri was likely to be renominated and for the Kinnaur the party was likely to field current legislator Jagat Singh Negi to contest the seat for another term in office, say the congress party sources.
When contacted Kuldeep Rathore, party spokesman said that the candidate list for the three tribal seats would be released as soon as party president Sonia Gandhi cleared the file that had been sent to her.
BJP leaders revealed that former MLA Tulsi Ram and former minister Ram Lal Markanday were the front runners for the Bharmaur and Lahaul-Spiti seats. However, lobbying for the Kinnaur seat was intense as the youth leader Tejwant Negi and former MLA Chet Ram Negi were pulling all strings to secure the party nomination.
State party president Jai Ram Thakur said that the party had received three to four applications for each of the three tribal seats and the tickets would only be allotted after the party central election committee met on 22nd October at Delhi and cleared the names. He said so far the BJP had not cleared any name for the three seats.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
