The BJP on Wednesday released its final list of 12 candidates for the November 4 Himachal Assembly polls,rehabilitating its cash-for-question scam-tainted former MP Suresh Chandel by fielding him from Bilaspur,represented earlier by BJP national general secretary J P Nadda. The BJPs Parliamentary Board,which met in Delhi,also re-fielded two ministers fighting over Jwalamukhi but denied a ticket to six-time MLA Roop Singh one of the key faces of the Janata Party in the 1977 elections. Chandel,on the other hand,was among the 11 MPs who were expelled from Parliament by the then Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee after they were caught on camera in a sting operation in 2005. A two-time MP from Hamirpur,from where Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal was later elected in 1997,Chandel had been lobbying hard to return to active politics. Initially,the name of Naddas wife Mallvika,a social activist,was doing rounds. But the party later decided to field Chandel,though his wife Anita was also considered as an option. Chandel has also served as the BJP state president. The party,meanwhile,re-fielded Food and Supplies Minister Ramesh Dhawala from Jwalamukhi in Kangra district. Irrigation and Public Health Minister Ravinder Singh Ravi,whose constituency of Thural had been scrapped by the Delimitation Commission,was eyeing the constituency and had suggested that Dhawala should be moved out to the nearby Dehra constituency. Now,Ravis name has been cleared from Dehra. The tussle between the two ministers had brought Dhumal and senior leader Shanta Kumar to a direct confrontation. Kumar,who had been backing Dhawala,had even issued a public statement attacking Ravi. Both Dhawala and Ravi will contest and win, said Dhumal. A major surprise in the list is the omission of former minister Roop Singh Thakur. He was the youngest MLA when he was elected in 1977 and became a minister in the Shanta Kumar government. In 1990 and 1998 he was a minister. In turn,the party gave the Sundernagar ticket to Rakesh Jamwal,a youth leader. Thakur declined to comment on his future course of action but said he had called a meeting of his supporters from all panchayats.
