Striking a balance between the two warring factions led by Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh and Vidya Stokes in the state party, the Congress high command on Sunday released the final list of 65 candidates for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections. The polls are scheduled to be held on December 19.
Almost all of the sitting 42 Congress MLAs could make it to the list, with prominent exemption of present deputy speaker Dharampal Thakur, a three-time MLA from Arki. While Singh will contest from Rohru, Stokes will fight from Kumarsain, a statement by the Congress party said.
The prominent leaders in the list include Ram Lal Thakur (Katkehloor), Mukesh Agnihotri (Santokgarh), Chandresh Kumari (Dharamsala) and Anil Sharma (Mandi).
Out of the 68 constituencies, the snow-hit areas of
Kinnaur, Bharmour, and Lahaul-Spiti have already voted on November 14.
Interestingly, former Himachal Pradesh Tourism and Transport Minister GS Bali, who quit after a TV channel exposed a “vulgar birthday party” hosted by him, also got a place in the list. He will contest from Nagrota Bagwan seat in Kangra district.
Bali was given a clean chit recently by Justice OP Garg commission, which probed the incident.
The Congress list also includes four of the five associate members who had contested as independent candidates in the last election. They later supported the Congress government at the Asembly. Rakesh Verma, an associate member, however, was denied ticket.