Shimla, January 31: As many as 24 candidates, including four former ministers Chander Kumar, Gangu Ram Musafir, Anita Verma, Thakur Singh Bharmouri, have sought Congress ticket for the four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh.
The Congress has extended the date for applications till February 2. During the previous Lok Sabha elections, the Congress drew a blank as all four seats were won by the BJP. The largest number of Congress ticket seekers (11 applicants) are for Shimla (SC reserved).
Only two – Vidya Negi, national coordinator, All-India Mahila Congress, who comes from Manali, and Budhi Singh Thakur, president, DCC, Kullu, who is from the outer Seraj — have sought ticket from Mandi.
The Congress had lost all 10 seats from Mandi district in the last Assembly polls.
Budhi Singh Thakur has sought the blessings of Virbhadra Singh, former Chief Minister, who is the chairman of Congress campaign committee.
Virbhadra and former state PCC president Kaul Singh Thakur, who had lost last Assembly election, are also weighing options to contest from Mandi, although none has applied for the ticket, revealed insiders.
For Kangra, five have applied for ticket. They are former MP Chander Kumar and Thakur Singh Bharmouri, both Virbhadra’s loyalists, Karan Singh Pathania, Dr Rajesh Sharma, Jagdish Saphia, all three are new comers.
Topping the list from Hamirpur include five new comers – Abhishek Rana, son of Rajinder Rana (MLA from Sultanpur), Capt Amrik Singh, Col Budhi Chand Lagwal, Subhash Chand Dhatwal, Ganesh Dutt Bharwal, veteran Anita Verma and Bambar Thakur, former MLA (Bilaspur).
For the reserved Shimla Lok Sabha seat, 11 candidates have applied for the ticket. But the list does not include the name of Col Dhani Ram Shandil, former minister, who is considered the strongest candidate for the seat so far.
Out of these, eight are new comers – Dr Ashwani Kumar, state teachers union leader, Amit Nanda, Devinder Singh Bhatia, Satya Gazta, Gurdial Singh, Budh Ram, Om Prakash Kataria and Surender. The other are veteran Gangu Ram Musafir, Vinod Sultanpuri, son of the former MP KD Sultanpuri, and Sohan Lal, former MLA, Kusumpti.
The state election committee will meet soon and the final selection will be done in consultation with the party high command, said Naresh Chauhan, party spokesperson of the media committee.
