Congressmen warn the high command against deploying Markanda
The top leadership of the Congress party has been requested by the workers of the Lahaul and Spiti Assembly seats not to provide a ticket to BJP dissident and former minister Ram Lal Markanda to contest in the byelection. Markanda has declared her intention to run for Congress in the byelection. If Markanda is granted a ticket from Lahaul and Spiti, several of them have gone so far as to threaten to quit in unanimity.
Anil Sehgal, the spokesman for the District Lahaul and Spiti Congress, said today that Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sunder Singh Thakur and Horticulture Minister Jagat Singh Negi will be attending the Lahaul-Spiti District Congress Committee meeting tomorrow as observers. He went on to say that ideas will be discussed with reference to the candidates running for the next Lahaul and Spiti byelections.
The primary goal of the conference, according to Sehgal, is to gather the cooperation of all interested candidates in front of the observers in order to reach a decision.
He said that the people of Lahaul and Spiti want to provide a fresh face to represent the area, having tried both Ravi Thakur and Ram Lal Markanda. “People have strong resentment against Ravi Thakur, and they will make sure he loses the byelection,” he said. At a party meeting a few days ago at Keylong, everyone present agreed that a committed worker should be awarded a ticket to run in the Assembly byelection rather than selecting an outsider. Fifteen or so members of Congress have shown interest in challenging the byelection.
The fact that the BJP granted a ticket to Congress renegade Ravi Thakur continues to enrage many of the party’s leaders. Ravi Thakur is visiting with the residents of Lahaul-Spiti in Manali and working on damage management in the meanwhile.
Former minister Govind Singh Thakur, who oversees the Mandi parliamentary Constituency, has called on Lahaul and Spiti office bearers and party members to contest the byelection together. While the Congress has not yet selected a candidate, the BJP has officially announced Ravi Thakur.
