Rebel candidates trouble both BJP, Congress in Himachal Pradesh

Close to a dozen candidature aspirants from both parties have filed their nominations as Independent candidates 

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress lock horns in the electoral battle for Himachal Pradesh, rebellions in both parties over denials of candidature have pushed the leadership uneasiness on the edge. 

A total of 551 nominations  have been filed so far with October 25 being the last date and October 29 the final date for withdrawal of nominations. Close to a dozen candidature aspirants from both the Congress and BJP, who were disgruntled over candidate selection have filed their nominations as Independent candidates. 

Leaders from both parties have stepped up efforts to pacify the rebels to withdraw their candidature. In the BJP, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, party’s national president J.P. Nadda, Union Minister Anurag Thakur, and party’s State in-charge Avinash Rai Khanna are among those who are busy pacifying the rebels. On the other hand, Congress State president Pratibha Singh is holding the fort to convince the anguished ones. 

The key BJP rebels include former MP Maheshwar Singh and his son Hiteshwar Singh, who are contesting as Independents from the Kullu (Sadar) and Banjar seats respectively. Besides, former Rajya Sabha MP Kripal Parmar is in the fray from Fatehpur. The former BJP MLAs include Tejwant Negi from Kinnaur and K.L. Thakur from Nalagarh. Apart from these, other prominent BJP rebels are Praveen Sharma from Mandi Sadar, Subhash Sharma from Bilaspur Sadar, Abhishek Thakur from Sundernagar, Vipin Nehria from Dharamsala, Rajinder Dhirta from Rohru, Manohar Dhiman from Indora, Sanjeev Sharma from Badsar and Indra Kapoor from Chamba. 

BJP sources told The Hindu that the party’s decision to drop 11 sitting MLAs from its list and accommodating Congressmen who had crossed over to the BJP has created resentment within the local unit. “This was anticipated, which is why, in each of the four Lok Sabha seats in the State, party leaders were asked to vote, in an internal poll held by the organisation, on just who should be the party candidate. We are hoping that the crisis will blow over as steps had been taken to anticipate the trouble,” said a senior BJP office-bearer involved in party affairs from Delhi. 

The Congress rebels include former Ministers Gangu Ram Musafir from Pachhad and Kuldeep Kumar from Chintpurni. Among former Congress MLAs, the rebels include Subhash Manglet from Chopal, Tilak Raj from Bilaspur, Jagjivan Pal from Sullah and Biru Ram Kishore from Jhandutta. Also, Indu Verma and Vijay Pal Khachi from Theog, Paras Ram from Anni and Lal Singh Kaushal from Nachan are in the fray, creating anxiety in the Congress camp. 

The rebellion in both parties is a cause of worry against the backdrop of narrow winning and losing margins in the previous Assembly elections. In the 2017 Assembly election, the winning-losing margin of candidates was below 5,000 votes in at least 34 constituencies, which accounts for half of the total Assembly seats in the State. Also, there were 20 constituencies, which saw margins of win and loss at less than 3,000 votes. Out of these, there were six segments, which saw a nail-biting finish with the vote margins being 1,000 or less. This time, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announcing that it will contest all 68 seats, the nervousness in the BJP and Congress camps is palpable.