By IANS
Shimla : While Himachal Pradesh Housing Minister Harsh Mahajan has decided not to contest the forthcoming assembly elections, state Civil Supplies and Horticulture Minister Singhi Ram has been left out of the race with the ruling Congress party deciding not to give him a ticket.
The list of 65 Congress candidates who will fight the Dec 19 assembly polls was announced by the party high command late Sunday and does not include either Mahajan or Singhi Ram.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi last week summoned five-time legislator Mahajan, who has cited personal for not contesting the election, and asked him to change his mind. However, she finally accepted his decision.
The decision is seen as a setback to the Congress as Mahajan is believed to be a strong and shrewd politician who has never lost an assembly election. He has been elected five times from the Chamba seat.
Mahajan, 53, is seen as one of the most important second-generation Congress leaders in the state.
Earlier this month, his supporters had travelled all the way from Chamba and had camped outside his house in Shimla urging him to change his mind. But Mahajan had refused to relent.
Singhi Ram, a Dalit leader who has won six elections in a row from the Rampur Bushahr assembly seat, was seen as being close to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.
However, many party workers were upset with his allegedly arrogant behaviour during his current tenure as minister. They claimed that if Singhi Ram was given a ticket, the party would lose the Rampur Bushahr seat, which has been a Congress stronghold for decades.
Singhi Ram had been camping for weeks in New Delhi to get the party nomination but another Dalit leader, Nand Lal, has been chosen to contest the seat.
Polling for 65 assembly seats in the state will take place on Dec 19. The votes will be counted on Dec 28.