Himachal minister's kin files papers as Independent

Himachal Pradesh Congress veteran and Cabinet Minister Kaul Singh's daughter on Saturday filed nomination papers for the November 9 assembly elections as an Independent candidate.

Champa Thakur, who is confident of getting the party ticket, filed the nomination from the Mandi seat, where the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pitted Congress rebel and former Cabinet Minister Anil Sharma, who resigned as a minister just ahead of the polls.

"Only my name has been recommended by the state party unit for this seat. I will definitely get the ticket," a confident-sounding Champa told reporters in Mandi town.

She said she was filing her papers as an Independent. Later, after getting the approval from the party high command, she would apply as a Congress candidate.

The Mandi seat is considered a strong Congress bastion and Sharma is a three-time legislator from this seat.

Champa's father Kaul Singh is the Health and Family Welfare Minister in the Virbhadra Singh-led cabinet.

He himself is recontesting from Darang in Mandi district.

Party leaders said the Congress is not keen to give ticket to Kaul Singh's daughter, who is the Zila Parishad chairman, as it is against Vice President Rahul Gandhi's "one family, one ticket formula".

However, the ticket distribution for the nine of the 68 assembly seats, including Mandi and Shimla (Rural), is still underway and nothing has been finalised yet.

From Shimla (Rural), the Chief Minister is keen to see his son Vikramaditya Singh's assembly debut.

The Chief Minister himself is contesting from Arki in Solan district and filed papers on Friday.

The last date of filing nominations is October 23.

--IANS

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