Shimla/Bilaspur, April 5
The state election committee of the BJP has sent a panel of four names, including Narinder Thakur, son of late BJP stalwart Jagdev Chand, who rejoined the party, to the high command for the Sujanpur Assembly byelection slated for May 7.

The committee, which met in Bilaspur today to finalise the candidate for the Sujanpur Assembly seat, vacated by Independent MLA Rajinder Singh Rana, also recommended the names of former BJP MLA from Hamirpur Urmilla Singh, former Sujanpur mandal president Varinder Thakur and present mandal president Rakesh Thakur, state BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti said.

Narinder Thakur, an arch rival of former Chief Minister PK Dhumal, is emerging as a front runner for the BJP ticket and insiders in the party say that as per a survey undertaken by the BJP high command, he is the strongest candidate from Sujanpur.

Narinder was ignored during the BJP regime and denied the party ticket from Hamirpur in 1998 and instead his sister-in-law, Urmil Thakur, who was given the ticket, won the election.

He was again denied ticket in 2003 and 2007 and Urmil Thakur, who was given the ticket, won the election in 2007 but lost in 2003 and 2012.

He made his debut in the electoral politics in 1994 when he contested the byelection from Hamirpur, vacated due to death of his father Jagdev Chand. However, he lost the election to Anita Verma of the Congress by a narrow margin of about 800 votes and his political fortunes did not look up.

Narinder Thakur left the BJP in 2003 and contested as an Independent against Urmil Thakur from Hamirpur but lost. He joined the Congress before the Hamirpur Lok Sabha byelections in 2007 and unsuccessfully contested against Anurag Thakur (BJP) in 2009 Lok Sabha polls as Congress candidate. He again opposed Dhumal in the Assembly polls in 2012 as Congress candidate and reduced his lead to about 9,000 and now he is back with the BJP.

Urmil Thakur, who was shifted from Hamirpur to the newly carved out constituency of Sujanpur, was unwilling to change her constituency in the 2012 Assembly polls but the ticket was given to Dhumal and she lost from Sujanpur.

Urmil maintained that she had the first claim on the ticket as she was shifted to this constituency in the last elections and lost as the constituency was new but this time she had created rapport with the electorate and was a formidable candidate from this seat.

The BJP is treading cautiously as winning the Sujanpur seat and securing lead from this segment in the Lok Sabha poll is crucial for the party as Rajinder Rana had defeated Anita Verma of the Congress by over 14,000 votes in the 2012 Assembly polls while the BJP candidate had finished the third.

The state election committee meeting presided over by Satpal Satti was attended by Dhumal, Rajiv Bindal, Suresh Bharadwaj, Dr Rajiv Bharadwaj, Randhir Sharma, Pawan Rana, general secretary (organisation) and Ritu Sethi. 

Dharamsala, April 5
Rahul Gandhi is no match for BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. Realising this fact, the Congress did not declare him the prime ministerial candidate.

Shanta Kumar, BJP candidate for the Kangra constituency, said this while addressing a public rally in Dharamsala today.

On a whirlwind tour to Dharamsala and the surrounding areas, Shanta Kumar took a dig at AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi, stating that the Congress leader was an inexperienced politician who lacked vision.

Addressing party workers, Shanta said the BJP had announced its prime ministerial candidate much earlier, while the Congress had failed in doing so as it was foreseeing a total rout in the Lok Sabha elections.

“The Congress is trying to project Rahul as the party’s face for the Prime Minister’s post, but he is no match for Modi,” said Shanta.

Slamming the UPA government on black money, Shanta said the Congress-led UPA government was reluctant to bring the money stashed in foreign banks as it would have been exposed its leaders.

“The Swiss government was ready to return the money, but no initiative was taken by UPA government,” he alleged.

He also took on the Congress, stating that former Army Chief VK Singh had written to the Central Government on the shortage of ammunition.

He said if there was a war at this time, the ammunition the Army had would not last more than 20 days. “It was due to corruption that such a situation has arisen,” Shanta said.

The veteran leader said if the BJP formed the next government, he would take up the issue of broad-gauging of the Pathankot-Jogindernagar rail line and extend it up to Leh. Shanta was accompanied by former minister Kishan Kapoor, media in charge for the Kangra Lok Sabha segment Rakesh Sharma and office-bearers of the local unit along with prominent leaders of area. 

Shimla, April 5
The morale of BJP leaders is high as most of the rebels, who had joined the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP), are back into the BJP to ensure the victory of the party in the general election.

The last batch of 24 leaders, including former MLA from Rohru Khushi Ram Balnatah and HLP spokesperson Tikku Thakur, joined the parent party last night.

Balnatah and other HLP leaders were readmitted to the party at a function here by party president Satpal Singh Satti, who hoped that they would work for the victory of party candidates.

After HLP president Maheshwar Singh spurned the offer to merge the party with the BJP and contest the election from Mandi, the BJP changed its strategy and targeted individual leaders and took the rebels back.

Most of the frontline leaders, including Dulo Ram, Karam Dev Dharmani, Naveen Dhiman, K R Balnatah, all former MLAs, have returned to the party.

The HLP, floated by the breakaway group of the BJP before the 2012 polls, had put up a brave face when party leaders started joining the BJP and denied that the party was disintegrating.

But with the exodus of leaders and workers, only a few leaders, including state party chief Maheshwar Singh and former ministers Shyam Sharma, Mohinder Sofat and Babu Ram Mandyal, are left in the HLP.

Mohinder Sofat and Shyama Sharma are not keen to join the BJP as they see no future in the party while Maheshwar Singh, the lone MLA of the party, has been accused by the party leaders of indirectly supporting the Congress.

The HLP has decided to support AAP candidates in Kangra and Hamirpur but not opened its cards regarding extending support in the Mandi constituency where sitting Congress MP Pratibha Singh, wife of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, is seeking reelection.

Balnatah, who was upset with the tacit support of the HLP to the Congress, wanted Maheshwar Singh to contest the Lok Sabha poll from Mandi to dispel the impression that he was soft towards Virbhadra Singh, but he refused to contest and stripped Balnatah of all posts and accused him of lobbying for the BJP.

The BJP pushed the local issues aside and urged rebels and HLP leaders to join the party to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister. 

Shimla, April 5
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu today held discussions on the candidate for the Sujanpur Assembly bypoll to be held on May 7.

The CM on his return from Rohru met Sukhu at his official residence Oak Over. It is learnt that the two discussed the names that have been shortlisted by a three-member committee of ministers headed by Vidya Stokes.

However, no final decision has been taken so far. The two are likely to meet again in Hamirpur tomorrow. Sources said the final announcement could be made within a day or two.

The names of former minister Anita Verma and former MLA from Bamsan Kuldip Pathania have been included in one panel, while the other panel has names of Anita Rana, wife of Rajinder Rana, Naresh Thakur, Hamirpur DCC president, and Arun Thakur, secretary of the district unit.

Party sources said the final fight for the ticket would narrow down between Anita Rana and Anita Verma. Virbhadra is backing Rana as he feels that with her husband resigning from the Assembly seat to fight the Lok Sabha poll , his wife must be accommodated.

Dharamsala, April 5
Chander Kumar, Congress candidate from the Kangra parliamentary constituency, along with Sudhir Sharma, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, today campaigned in the Dharamsala Assembly constituency.

While addressing public rallies, Chander Kumar accused Shanta Kumar of not doing anything substantial for Kangra. He said Shanta Kumar had remained Chief Minister of the state two times and Union minister in the NDA government. However, he had not done anything for Kangra.

Most of the development in Kangra had been done by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. Most of the projects in Kangra, including, the Assembly complex, the state Education Board office, the Board for Technical Education had come up during the Congress stint in power, he said.

Sudhir Sharma, while addressing political rallies, said the present UPA government had given many projects for Kangra, including the Central University, the National Institute of Fashion Technology at Kangra and the super-speciality wing of the Tanda Medical College.

However, the previous BJP government in the state had ignored Kangra. No money was released for Kangra during the BJP stint in power. Many offices from Kangra were shifted to Hamirpur, he alleged.

Shimla, April 5
Industries and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Agnihotri has ridiculed the BJP top brass and the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) for raising finger at Governor Urmila Singh for giving sanction to prosecute former Chief Minister PK Dhumal in the HPCA case.

"The behaviour of BJP leaders is uncalled for and disgraceful as the Governor is the constitutional head of the state and questioning her decision is unlawful and direct attack on democracy," he remarked in a statement issued here today.

Agnihotri said the chargesheet was based on facts and not like the one submitted by the BJP to the Governor against the Congress which was a bundle of lies and misleading just to divert the attention of the people from their misdeeds.

The minister also accused the BJP of blemishing the rich traditions of the Assembly by boycotting the Budget speech of the Governor and session also. "It appears that the BJP does not believe in the Constitution of the country, but does not hesitate to point fingers at others," he said.

He said when in power, everything seemed to be right for them and when they had to sit in the Opposition, they made contemptuous remarks against the ruling party. He added that this time the BJP had crossed all limits by making disrespectful remarks against the Governor.

He said the Dhumal regime went out of the way to give precious government land worth crores at five places to the HPCA headed by Anurag Thakur, son of the then Chief Minister.

"Now, when their misdeeds are open before the public, they are making frivolous remarks," he said.

Sanawar, April 5
Several Bollywood celebrities, including old students of the 167-year-old historic Lawrence School, Sanawar, today descended on the school premises to participate in a cricket tournament which was played between the hosts and Mumbai Heroes.

The tournament is being organised on the premises of the Sanawar school on April 5 and 6. It will include a series of matches that will be played among four teams — Staff XI, Sanawar XI, Roy Bois OS and Mumbai Heroes.

The Roy brothers, Rahul and Rohit, sponsored high-mask floodlights worth Rs 50 lakh to their alma mater. Day and night matches will be played in the new floodlights which have been installed on the 1,700-m field nestled amidst the pine whiffed aura of pine trees.

Having spent six years in the school, Rahul along with his twin brother had joined the school at an age of 12 years. It was a perfect place to shape us into better human beings, Rahul confides while sharing his bonding with the school.

Instrumental in bringing his Bollywood friends to the tournament along with film director Apoorva Lakhia, he says the school had been their guiding force and the values inculcated here had helped them go through rigours of life.

He said the availability of sports facilities was a crucial requirement for youngsters today. Roy thanked Salman Khan and Sohail Khan, owners of Mumbai Heroes, for their generosity for making this tournament possible and said they would endeavour to make it an annual feature.

Mumbai Heroes, clad in pink uniform with Suniel Shetty leading the team, won the toss and decided to bat first against Roy Bois, led by Rohit Roy. Suniel Shetty, after winning the toss for the Mumbai Heroes, urged the crowd to cheer for the guests and lend their whole-hearted support to them.

The cine celebrities that are a part of the Mumbai Heroes include Suniel Shetty, Bobby Deol, Sohail Khan, Aftab Shivdasani, Armaan Kohli, Vatsal Shethe, Jeetu Verma, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Varun Badola, Shahwar Ali, Salil Ankola, Manoj Bidwai, Tanisha Mukherji, Pooja Bedi, Amrita Roychand, Nim Dausang, Barkha Bisht, Bunty Walia and Apoorva Lakhia.

Bobby Deol, Apoorva Lakhia and Pooja Bedi are ex-students of the school. Talking to The Tribune, Pooja Bedi said she had spent 12 years in this school and memories were haunting her right from the moment she entered the school gate.

Recalling how she perpetually figured in the drill book, which was a symbol of punishment, she reminisced about the ghost stories which had been passed on from generation to generation.

Vatsal Shesthe of the "Tarzan -The Wonder Car" film fame, while sharing his experience, said it was a welcome break for them. Enthusiastic about his new television serial, "Ek Haseena Thi", which is going on air from April 14 on television, he said he was playing the character of a rich spoilt brat. He said it was a suspense thriller and a role which was very different from his real self.

Una, April 5
Santosh Das, working in the Una Municipal Committee (MC), died after being hit by a vehicle on the Hamirpur road in front of the main bus stand here today.

DSP Surinder Sharma said Santosh was crossing the road when a speeding Scorpio jeep (PB01-1893), carrying devotees from Dasuya in Punjab to the Deotsidh temple in Hamirpur, hit him. — OC