Shimla: Giving rest to all speculation and dilly-dallying, Sujanpur independent legislature resigned from his membership of Vidhan Sabha and formally joined Indian National Congress here today.
Rajinder Rana tendered his resignation to Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Brij Behari Lal Butail. After that he joined Congress party in the presence of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee President Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Irrigation and Public Health minister Vidya Stokes, Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and other party leaders.
With it now the Congress complication for the Hamirpur Parliamentary Constituency seems over and now announcement of candidate were speculating mere formality. The Congress central election committee has already cleared three names for election.
Rana, while talking to the press, expressed confidence in Congress party and stated that he would work hard to strengthen the party base. He also expressed his gratitude towards AICC president Sonia Gandhi, Vice President Rahul Gandhi, HPCC President Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. Rana assured party leaders that he would sincerely fulfill all the responsibilities which would be assigned to him by the party.
Rajinder Rana, once a closed confident of former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Prem Kumar Dhumal, picked by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for contesting general election against BJP nominee Anurag Thakur. Singh believed that Rana knows the ins and outs of BJP in the region and his previous association with them can help Congress to break their citadel.
The Congress party hadn’t won Hamirpur Parliamentary Constituency in last six encounters. Congress has even tried to break BJP citadel with Narender Thakur, son of Th. Jaidev Singh, one of BJP founder member of the state, but electorates of the region relied behind the BJP candidates. Rana had won Sujanpur Assembly segment with record margin of 14,166 as an independent candidate and if his voters still stick with him, he can pose possible threat to BJP nominee Anurag Thakur in the election.
