DHARAMSALA: Indecision on the part of the Congress regarding the choice of a candidate from the Kangra Parliamentary constituency in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections has only added to confusion in party circles and made the warring factions apparel Though the names of Minister of Irrigation and Public Health, Chander Kumar, is being actively considered, some other Leaders too have started lobbying for a ticket from this important constituency, creating confusion among the party ranks.
Being from an OBC (other backward class himself, Chander Kumar is said to have a good hold over the vote bank of the backward classes the largest organized group of the electorate in Kangra. It was initially being said (Khangra being a BJP stronghold), that he would give a tough fight to the BJP supremo Shanta Kumar (the likely BJP candidate) on the basis of caste considerations.
The Congress move to give a united front to the public seems to have been affected to an extent, with G.S. Bali, vice-president of the Himachal Congress Sewa Dal staking his claim for the ticket on the has is of written submission of nine block Congress Committees of Kangra district in his favor.
At press conference in Kangra, be said “Chander Kumar, no doubt is a senior Congress man. But he is already enjoying power in the state government. It is not necessary that all OBCs of Kangra would unanimously ‘vote for him if caste is a criterion to decide a person’s candidature.”
Article extracted from this publication >> March 27, 1996
