Won't contest LS polls: Himachal Cong chief

Himachal Pradesh Congress president Kuldeep Singh Rathore said Saturday he would not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Talking to the media at the Congress office here, Rathore said he was not interested in contesting in any of the four parliamentary seats of the state.

The state Congress chief said he would lead from the front during the election and would campaign in support of the party candidates. In reply to another question, Rathore said appropriate action would be taken in a day or two against the Congress workers who were responsible for a clash at the party office last month.

The supporters of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh and former state Congress chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu clashed against each other in front of senior party leaders shortly after Rathore took charge as the new party president on January 17. Rathore said the action would be taken based on an inquiry report by a two-member committee, comprising advocates Nareshwar Singh Chandel and Rupinder Singh Thakur. The panel had already completed its inquiry and it would submit its report soon.

The Congress leader downplayed the incident, saying it was only party workers who had clashed. He pointed out to an incident where a Bharatiya Janata Party councillor created "indiscipline" by "inappropriately" arguing with the deputy mayor, who belongs to the saffron party, in a meeting of the Shimla municipal corporation.

Rathore urged Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to take appropriate action against the councillor. PTI DJI HMB

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