Efforts are on to persuade the rebel leaders of BJP and Congress in the Himachal Assembly elections. October 29 i.e. tomorrow is the last day for withdrawal of nominations. If the rebels do not agree, then both the parties are sure to lose many seats. For five years, the tickets of the leaders who were preparing in different circles were cut, then many filed their nominations opening a front against the official candidate of the party. For the past several days, efforts are being made by the top leaders of BJP and Congress to persuade the rebels. But both the parties have not got much success so far. Around 12 leaders from BJP and 11 from Congress have filed independent nominations. These include former ministers, former MLAs and former candidates.
National President JP Nadda himself has taken the front to quell the rebellion in the BJP. After reaching Shimla in his home district Bilaspur to persuade the rebels, he met the rebel BJP leader and former MP Maheshwar Singh.
Maheshwar Singh, who filed an independent nomination from Kullu Sadar seat, reached Shimla on the call of the BJP high command. After his talks with Nadda here, his attitude softened and he left the decision to contest the elections to his supporters. In fact, BJP has cut the ticket of Maheshwar Singh after his son filed an independent nomination from Banjar Vis area of Kullu district.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, Union Minister Anurag Thakur and in-charge Avinash Rai Khanna are also active with their team to persuade the rebels.
On the other hand, in Congress, state in-charge Rajiv Shukla, co-in-charge Sanjay Dutt, state president Pratibha Singh, leader of opposition Mukesh Agnihotri and head of publicity department Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu are responsible for persuading the rebels.
If BJP is battling rebellion in Paonta Sahib, Banjar, Mandi Sadar, Nachan, Bilaspur Sadar, Jhanduta, Barsar, Dharamsala, Chamba, Nalagarh etc. seats, Congress is facing Pachhad, Theog, Chaupal, Rampur, Arki, Aani, Bhorjan, Jhanduta, There is a rebellion in Chintpurni.
According to political experts, if senior leaders are able to persuade the rebels in these seats, then the parties can get better results.
Polling for 68 assembly seats in the state will be held on November 12, while the election results will be declared on December 8.