Rahul likely to be made Cong chief in November

Sukh Ram's son to contest Himachal polls on BJP ticket

The Congress Working Committee is scheduled to announce its election schedule on October 24.
 
It is almost certain that Vice-President Rahul Gandhi would soon head the party. The All-India Congress Committee is likely to elect him the party chief in the first week of November.
 
On Wednesday, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party released their respective lists of candidates for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections. The voting is on November 9.
 
The highlight of the BJP’s list was the confirmation that Anil Sharma, son of former telecom minister Sukh Ram, would contest on a BJP ticket from the Mandi Assembly constituency. Sharma and his father had switched from the Congress to the BJP last week. Sharma was the rural development minister in the Virbhadra Singh government.
 
The BJP has announced candidates for all 68 seats, while the Congress announced candidate for 59.
 
Union Health Minister J P Nadda’s name was missing on the BJP list. There was speculation that Nadda might head to Himachal Pradesh as chief minister if his party win the elections. Two-time former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal will contest from Sajanpur, instead of his sitting seat of Hamirpur.
 
As for the Congress, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh will contest from the Arki constituency. Interestingly, Rajya Sabha member Viplove Thakur will also be contesting Assembly polls. Her Rajya Sabha term ends in 2020.
 
The Congress is also busy tying up a grand alliance in Gujarat. Party leaders are in talks with Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani, Patidar leader Hardik Patel and OBC leader Alpesh Thakur. The alliance could be announced when the Congress vice-president visits the state in November.
 
On Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi attended a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on external affairs. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar briefed committee members on India-China relations and the Doklam stand-off. Rahul Gandhi asked questions on media reports that claimed that China has again started constructing a road in the Doklam area.