With just a day left for filing nominations, the Congress is yet to decide on its candidates for at least nine Assembly segments, including that of the Shimla Rural constituency from where Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s son Vikramaditya has filed his nomination papers. The party high command has also not cleared the tickets of children of some of the other senior Congress leaders in view of the opposition within the State unit to the propagation of dynastic politics.
The party is also facing some resistance within its ranks to the official candidates, with groups aligned to both the CM and the PCC chief at loggerheads.
On Saturday, the Chief Minister reacted to former Congress veteran-turned-BJP leader Sukh Ram’s description of him as a “master manipulator” by saying that the latter has lost his memory with age.
Another octogenarian leader Vidya Stokes, who had vacated her Theog seat for the Chief Minister, suddenly fell ill on Saturday and was admitted to the Fortis Hospital in Chandigarh. Mr. Virbhadra Singh, fearing a tougher fight in this constituency, has opted to contest for the Arki Assembly seat in Solan district instead and has already filed his nomination papers from there.
The Opposition BJP is also facing dissension, with reports of some rebels getting ready to file nomination papers to contests against the official party nominees, especially in seats such as Kusumpati, Shimla Rural, Solan, Arki, Banjar, Mandi, Bhoranj and Palampur.