The Hindu : Cong. to go it alone in Himachal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 30, 2003

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Cong. to go it alone in Himachal

By Javed M. Ansari

NEW DELHI JAN. 29. After mulling over the issue for weeks, the Congress has decided to contest the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections on its own. It is likely to field candidates for 68 seats.

The protracted negotiations with Sukh Ram's Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) were called off late last night. Several factors were reported to have contributed to the decision, primary among them being the corruption tag attached to Mr. Sukh Ram.

The stiff resistance put up by a sizeable section of the party, particularly by senior leaders such as Veerbhadra Singh, and the large number of seats demanded by the HVC also prompted the Congress poll managers not to go ahead with the alliance.

According to sources, the HVC leader insisted on 18 seats, which, in the Congress estimation, was in excess of his reach in the State.

Mr. Sukh Ram has been in touch with several CWC members, including the AICC general secretary in-charge of the State, Mohsina Kidwai.

Mr. Sukh Ram sought to impress upon the Congress leaders the need for the two parties to join hands to defeat the BJP

The Congress leadership, desperate to put a halt to the BJP's winning streak after Gujarat, initially appeared receptive. However, strong resistance from the rank and file and stalwarts such as Mr. Veerbhadra Singh, forced the leaders to rethink.

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