Cong high command to decide on Pratibha Singh's LS poll candidature: Rajeev Shukla

Cong high command to decide on Pratibha Singh’s LS poll candidature: Rajeev Shukla

Chandigarh, Mar 27 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh Congress chief Pratibha Singh has left the decision on contesting the Lok Sabha polls to the party high command, the grand old party’s in-charge for the hill state, Rajeev Shukla, said on Wednesday.

Singh, the member of Parliament from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, had recently said she had decided not to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as the situation on the ground was “not favourable” and the party workers were disheartened.

Shukla was talking to reporters after a six-member committee formed by the Congress to ensure better coordination between its Himachal Pradesh government and party organisation in the hill state met here.

After the meeting, asked about her earlier statement on not contesting the Lok Sabha polls, Singh said, “I have conveyed it to the high command. Now let us see what decision it takes.”

Replying to a reporter’s query before the meeting on whether she would contest the polls from Mandi, Singh had said, “Not at all…. I have conveyed this to the high command. Now it depends on what decision the high command takes.”

Besides Singh, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and other Congress leaders were present at the meeting chaired by Shukla.

The meeting was held to firm up the strategy and discuss the names of probable candidates from the hill state for the general election.

Replying to a reporter’s question, Shukla said, “We will win all 10 seats (in Himachal Pradesh) — four in the Lok Sabha and six in the Assembly bypolls.” The Congress government in the hill state is going strong and will complete its term, he asserted.

Asked if Singh will contest the Lok Sabha polls, Shukla said such decisions will be taken by the party high command. “She has left it to the high command and said she will abide by its decision,” he said.

With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) naming six disqualified Congress MLAs on Tuesday as its candidates for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly bypolls, Sukhu said the Congress is poised to win all the six seats.

Talking to reporters here after the nearly-two-hour-long meeting, Singh said, “We will work together. We have to win the Lok Sabha polls.”

She said discussions took place on probable candidates, adding that the party’s state unit will finalise the names in five-six days and apprise the high command of its decisions, following which another meeting will be held.

The Himachal Pradesh Congress chief said at the meeting, she raised some issues that require the state government’s attention and was given an assurance on those.

Asked how big a challenge actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut is going to pose to the Congress from Mandi, she said, “We will fight and make the Congress victorious.”

The BJP has fielded Ranaut from Mandi in the general election.

Asked about some Congress leaders switching over to the BJP ahead of the election, Shukla said such developments take place during polls.

Asked about Congress MP from Punjab’s Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu joining the BJP, he took a dig at the saffron party, saying it does not have strong leaders. “The Congress is like a huge sea where there is no dearth of leaders,” he asserted.

Sukhu said “we are fully geared up for the Lok Sabha polls”.

The six rebels have been given tickets by the BJP and the people of Himachal Pradesh will decide their fate on June 1, the chief minister said.

Replying to a reporter’s question before the meeting, Agnihotri said “there is no threat to our government”.

He asserted that the Congress is comfortably placed despite the exit of the six MLAs.

When told that more Congress MLAs are said to be in touch with the BJP, Agnihotri played it down, saying, “Whatever has happened has happened…. Dil behlane ke liye Ghalib ye Khayal achha hai.”

He alleged that attempts were made by the BJP to topple the Congress government in the hill state, adding that “but now, they find themselves in a fix. They used all tactics, but failed”.

The deputy chief minister asserted that the Himachal Pradesh government is stable and said more stability will be lent to it when the bypoll results are declared on June 4.

“In the present House of 62 MLAs, we have 34 legislators and the BJP has 25,” he said.

The members of the Congress coordination committee for Himachal Pradesh include Sukhu, Agnihotri and Singh.

Senior party leaders Kaul Singh Thakur, Dhaniram Shandil and Ram Lal Thakur are the other members of the panel.

The Lok Sabha polls are scheduled to be held in seven phases starting April 19. Polling for the four parliamentary seats and six Assembly by-elections in Himachal Pradesh is scheduled to be held on June 1. The counting of votes will be taken up on June 4.