New Delhi, February 6
With the Lok Sabha’s dissolution today, the Congress signalled its preparation for the coming elections by inducting MPs and MLAs from Himachal Pradesh and Orissa.
Mr Dhani Ram Shandil, lone Lok Sabha MP from the Himachal Vikas Congress of former Union Minister Sukh Ram, today joined the Congress at the AICC here.
Mr Shandil, who today met Congress President Sonia Gandhi along with state Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, is likely to be the Congress candidate from the Shimla Lok Sabha seat.
He said he had resigned from the HVC. “I am joining the Congress due to sacrifices made by the Nehru-Gandhi family,” he said.
The induction of Mr Shandil into the Congress is being seen as a setback to Mr Sukh Ram, who was holding talks with the ruling party in Himachal Pradesh over a possible tieup.
Mr Sukh Ram apparently wanted the Congress to take a collective view of the Shimla and Mandi Lok Sabha seats and to also suitably accommodate his son, Mr Anil Sharma, whose Rajya Sabha term comes to an end in a few weeks.
With Mr Shandil now having joined the Congress, Mr Sukh Ram’s talks with the Congress will now be limited only to the Mandi seat.
Despite being part of the NDA, Mr Sukh Ram had shown inclination towards the Congress in the recent weeks. The HVC leader recently met Mr Virbhadra Singh at Himachal Bhavan here.
Sources said a major stumbling block in the talks over the coming together of the HVC and the Congress was the cases faced by the former Telecommunications Minister.
HVC leaders maintained that Mr Shandil’s joining the Congress had tacit approval of Mr Sukh Ram. On his part, Mr Shandil did not show any bitterness towards the HVC.
Answering questions about his carrying the “legacy of Mr Sukh Ram” with him into the Congress, Mr Shandil said the only legacy he knew was of the former Union Minister contributing to the telecommunication revolution in the hill state.
He indicated that the Congress and the HVC could still work together.
The Congress also got a boost in Orissa with several BJD and BJP leaders joining the party.
They included Rajya Sabha MP Dilip Ray and Ms Kumudini Pattanaik, a member of the outgoing Lok Sabha.
Two Independent MLAs, who were associate members of the BJP, besides two other former ministers of the Naveen Pattanaik government also joined the Congress.
