Himachal: Cong expels 6 leaders from rebelling against candidates

Shimla: Just ahead of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joining the Congress campaign as its star campaigner at Mandi on Monday, the AICC incharge for the state Rajiv Shukla on Sunday expelled six congress leaders from the party rebelling against the party candidates.

Those expelled also included former Speaker Gangu Ram Musafir, one of the party's senior most leaders in the state. He had lost 2012 and 2017 elections and thus has been denied a ticket by the party from Pacchad.

As the party has given a ticket to a BJP turncoat Dayal Pyari ignoring Musafir's claim, he has filed his nomination papers as an independent candidate.

Shukla and his team tried to persuade the former Speaker to drop his plan to contest the poll as he could later be accommodated in the government if the congress returned, Musafir refused to fall in line and revolted.

Musafir was first elected to the state assembly in 1977 as an independent and thereafter he had never lost the poll till 2012 –when BJP's Suresh Kashyap, now MP and BJP president, had defeated him despite Congress having returned to power.

Among others who have been expelled from the party also include former MLAs– Jagjivan Pal contesting from Sulah in Kangra, Subhash Manglet, independent candidate from Chopal and Vijay Pal Khachi from Theog, Paras Ram from Aani and Sushil Kaul from Jaisingpur.