With it being nearly certain that Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi would soon head the party, the Congress working committee is scheduled to announce the election schedule on October 24. The All India Congress Committee could elect him the party chief in the first week of November.
On Wednesday, both the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released their respective lists of candidates for the Himachal Pradesh assembly poll. The voting is on November 9.
The highlight of the BJP's list was confirmation that Anil Sharma, son of former telecom minister Sukh Ram, would contest on a BJP ticket from the Mandi assembly constituency. Sharma and his father had switched from the Congress to BJP last week. Sharma was the rural development minister in the Virbhadra Singh government.
The BJP announced its candidates on all 68-seats, while the Congress announced the names of 59. In the BJP's list, Union Health Minister J P Nadda's name was missing. There has been speculation that Nadda might head to Himachal Pradesh as chief minister if his party were to win the election. The two-time former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal will contest from Sajanpur, instead of his sitting seat of Hamirpur.
As for the Congress, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh will contest from Arki assembly constituency. Interestingly, Rajya Sabha member Viplove Thakur will also be contesting the assembly poll. Her Rajya Sabha term ends in 2020.
The Congress is also busy tying up a grand alliance in Gujarat. Party leaders are in talks with Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani, Patidar leader Hardik Patel and OBC leader Alpesh Thakur. The alliance could be announced when the Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi visits the state in November.
On Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi attended a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on external affairs. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar briefed committee members on India-China relations and the Doklam stand-off. Gandhi asked questions on media reports that have claimed that China has again started constructing a road in the Doklam area.