Shimla: Withstanding incumbency, if one were to go by the number of applications the congress has received, the party is gearing up to tackle the issue of satisfying all sections.
“Though we had charged Rs 5000 per application from a ticket aspirant but yet we have received over 400 applications for the 65 assembly segments that go to the polls in December,†said Kuldeep Rathore.
Talking to the media he said that all the six MLA’s who are associate members of the congress legislature party but have yet not joined the party formally have also applied for the party ticket from their respective assembly segments.
Party loyalty and winnablity would be considered while making ticket allocations. The central selection committee is scheduled to meet on November 4 at Delhi where norms for candidate selection would be set, he disclosed. Three new members, Asha Kumari, Chandresh Kumari and Anita Verma have been included in the central selection committee, he added.
Rathore disclosed that Ajay Maken and Jagmeet Singh Brar are among the six party observers deputed by the congress high command to oversee smooth campaigning in the state.
Removing uncertainties about Vidya Stokes shifting her constituency, he said that Stokes was contesting the election from Kumarsain constituency.
Rathore said that that campaigning in the tribal constituencies of Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Bharmour had picked up. Chief minister Virbhadra Singh would be campaigning in Kinnaur and Spiti between 6th to 8th November and in Bharmour and Lahaul from 10th to 12th November, he said. These segments are part of the first phase of election which go to the polls on 14th November and voting to the remaining 65 seats are scheduled to be held on 19th December. The results are scheduled to be declared on 28th December.
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.
