Congress clears candidates for Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab - The Hindu

April 13, 2024 09:33 pm | Updated 09:51 pm IST - New Delhi:

The Congress at the meeting of its Central Election Commission (CEC) held on April 13 cleared names of a few candidates for Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh for the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

In Haryana, the party finalised the names of Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda from Rohtak and Kumari Shelja from Sirsa. In Himachal Pradesh, it has been decided that Minister Vikramaditya Singh will face BJP candidate and film actor Kangana Ranaut in Mandi. In Punjab, former AAP leader Dharamvir Gandhi’s name was cleared to contest from Patiala. There is no clarity so far on where senior party leader Manish Tewari will contest from. Mr. Tewari wants to shift to Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat instead of Anandpur Sahib, that he currently represents.

Candidate for Shimla seat was also cleared, though a formal announcement is pending. “We have discussed the candidate for the Shimla seat, but the party president will make the formal announcement regarding it. And for the Mandi seat, the party has asked Vikramaditya Singh to contest,” State unit chief Pratibha Singh told reporters at the party headquarters in Delhi.

When asked about the tough contest with Ms. Ranaut, Ms. Singh said, “There is no reason for us to worry. Whoever comes, we are prepared to contest and win the seat”.

The party which racked with in-fighting in Himachal Pradesh, is hoping that Mr. Singh’s candidature will bring stability. Differences that were simmering between Chief Minister Sukwinder Singh Sukhuand the party’s State unit sharpened during the recent Rajya Sabha election, when Congress candidate Abhishek Singhvi was defeated due to cross-voting by six MLAs of the ruling party. However, the fault lines within the party were clearly visible, with Mr. Vikramditya and his mother Ms. Singh, blaming the Chief Minister for the Rajya Sabha fiasco. He had even resigned as a Minister of the Sukhu government but then took it back under pressure from the high command.

There is still no clarity on the party’s candidate from Amethi and Rae Bareli, where several sections in the party are hoping that former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest from.

The CEC meeting was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, and AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal.

Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, Pradesh Congress Chief Pratibha Singh, and AICC in-charge Rajeev Shukla, were the others present in the meeting.

The Haryana CEC was attended, by PCC chief Uday Bhan, ex-CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Randeep Surjewala, and Kumari Selja.