Shimla: Former chief minister Shanta Kumar would be the BJP candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat, election for which is scheduled to be held on 26th March.
“The party state election committee, which meets later in the evening, in all likelihood is set to endorse the candidature of senior party leader Shanta Kumar for the Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal, said Satyapal Jain, BJP incharge for the state.
A single name recommendation would be forwarded to the central election committee. On clearance from the central committee, the candidate would file his nominations on 10th March, he said at a conference call here, today.
A former chief minister from the state for the first time would be going to the Rajya Sabha, said Jain.
He asked the opposition congress to respect the ruling party’s choice and desist from putting up a candidate who would surely loose, given the majority BJP enjoyed in the state legislature.
Sensing early Lok Sabha elections, Jain said that the party had deployed 35 senior leaders to assess prospective candidates for the crucial elections around the country. He said that “Anil Jain had been deputed to gauge candidate popularity and suitability for Himachal.â€
He said that the UPA government had discriminated against Punjab, Chandigarh and Himachal, as no major project was announced either in the rail budget or the general budget for this region.
The party had amended its constitution and made a mandatory provision of 33 percent reservation for women in the party structure, said Jain. Party’s like CPI and CPI(M) who are in the forefront for providing reservation for women in parliament remain male dominated, he said adding that they needed to amend party constitutions to ensure gender participation in decision making.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads the team of media professionals at Hill Post.
In a career spanning over two decades through all formats of journalism in Electronic, Print and Online Media, he brings with him enough experience to steer this platform. He lives in Shimla.
