New Delhi, January 22
The Himachal Pradesh Congress election committee today authorised Congress President Sonia Gandhi to decide the party’s candidates for the forthcoming elections in the state.
Congress Legislature Party leader Virbhadra Singh moved the resolution, which was seconded by all other members of the 17-member state election committee. Mr R.K. Dhawan was the Central observer for the afternoon meeting, which lasted almost half an hour.
The resolution said the election committee had authorised Congress President Sonia Gandhi to take the decision about candidates and related matters including the election of Chief Minister.
Congress sources said the decision to leave the selection of candidates to the highcommand had been taken to avoid factional bickerings in the party and to prevent heartburn among the large number of ticket aspirants.
Significantly, the resolution not only left the selection of candidates to the Congress President but also related matters.
Though senior Congress leaders had been saying the choice of Chief Minister would be made by the newly elected MLAs in case the party got a majority, today’s resolution effectively put the onus on the highcommand, much to the liking of supporters of HPCC chief Vidya Stokes.
The sources said senior leaders, including Mr Virbhadra Singh, Mrs Stokes, Mr Anand Sharma and Mrs Chandresh Kumari, met at the residence of Mr Dhawan this evening to draw up names of party candidates for each seat.
The panel of names will be sent to the four-member screening committee headed by Dr Manmmohan Singh, which is likely to meet next week. The final selection of candidates will be made by the party’s Central Election Committee.
Sources said there was meeting ground between the senior leaders of the state on about 40 seats.
