New Delhi, January 11
The Congress may have an informal arrangement with Sukh Ram’s Himachal Vikas Congress on some seats in Himachal Pradesh.
Sources said the high command was veering round to the view that an understanding with the HVC would boost the party’s prospects of coming to power. However, such an arrangement is likely to be confined to those seats in Mandi and Kulu districts where the HVC has a hold. The sources said that in view of Mr Sukh Ram’s conviction in a corruption case and the HVC having shared power with the BJP in the state, the Congress is unlikely to have a formal seat-sharing arrangement with him.
The Congress leaders are looking at the possibility of repeating Kashmir-like arrangements in Himachal Pradesh where the party either left some seats for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) or put up “weak candidates’’ on those seats. Alternatively, the Congress leaders are also exploring the possibility of taking into the Congress “winning candidates’’ of the HVC.
The sources said informal talks were being held between the leaders of the two parties in Himachal Pradesh. Senior Congress leaders here said the party was examining if the damage caused by not having an understanding with the HVC was manageable. “If the likely loss is heavy, some arrangement will be worked out,’’ he said.
Significantly, despite former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s opposition to having a truck with the HVC, the senior leaders have not ruled out the possibility. They have yet not endorsed the stand taken by Mr Virbhadra Singh.
In another significant decision, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has asked CWC members Motilal Vora, R.K. Dhawan, Mukul Wasnik and Rajasthan PCC chief Girja Vyas to coordinate election work in Himachal Pradesh. The leaders will alternatively base themselves in the state till the elections are over. The Congress is giving a lot of importance to the elections in Himachal Pradesh in order to show its defeat in Gujarat as an “aberration.’’
Meanwhile, a meeting of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Election Committee is likely to be held in New Delhi on January 16 to recommend the names of party candidates for elections.
The names suggested by the state election committee would go to the screening committee before being finally decided by the Congress Central Election Committee.
Party sources said of the 65 seats on which discussion would be taken up in the meeting, 30 were those on which senior leaders — Virbhadra Singh and Vidya Stokes — had different perceptions.
The sources said tickets of some sitting MLAs could also be cut on the basis of “non-performance,’’ or if there were charges of corruption against them.
Sources said there was some apprehension among supporters of Ms Stokes about holding the election committee meeting at Shimla.
