Congress declares first list for Himachal, Virbhadra Singh to contest from Arki

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadhra Singh will contest the November 9 Assembly polls in the state from Arki while state Congress chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu will contest from Nadaun, according to the first list of 59 Congress candidates declared on Wednesday.

Virbhadra Singh's son, Vikramaditya, who was being speculated as party candidate from Shimla Rural, did not figure in the first list. The state has a 68-member assembly.

The list included many of the party's known leaders including Asha Kumari (Dalhousie), Chander Kumar (Jawali), Kaul Singh Thakur (Darang), Viplov Thakur (Dehra), Gangu Ram Musafir (Pachhad), Col Dhani Ram Shandil (retd) (Solan) and Thakur Singh Bharmauri (Bharmour).

Other known faces in the party's list include Ajay Mahajan (Nurpur), Kuldip Singh Pathania (Bhattiyat), Sujan Singh Pathania (Fatehpur), Sudhir Sharma (Dharamsala), Mukesh Agnihotri (Haroli), Vinod Sultanpuri (Kasauli), Rajesh Dharmani (Ghumarwin), Harshvardhan Chauhan (Shillai) and Harbhajan Singh Bhajji (Shimla).

The party has fielded Rajinder Rana against BJP leader and former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in Sujanpur.

Virbhadra Singh, who represented Shimla Rural in the outgoing assembly, has moved to Arki in Solan district. Earlier, there was speculation he may fight from Theog.

BJP had declared its full list of candidates earlier in the day. The process of filing nominations for the polls has already begun and the last date is October 23.

--IANS

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