Decks seem to have finally been cleared for the candidature of former Himachal chief minister and veteran Congress leader Virbhadra Singh from the prestigious Mandi Parliamentary constituency. With former Union minister Sukh Ram, who was among the prospective candidates from the seat, opting out, Virbhadra’s candidature seems almost certain.

Sukh Ram, when contacted at his Noida residence on Tuesday, said he would not contest the polls till his name is cleared in the CBI cases pending against him. “This would be the last election of my life, so I will not contest as a tainted candidate,” he told The Indian Express.

Virbhadra Singh, who has been camping in Delhi, said he would certainly contest if the party high command so desires.

The list submitted to the party high command by the state Congress committee for the seat also includes the name of Virbhadra’s wife Pratibha Singh, who is the sitting MP.

Sukh Ram said Virbhadra is the only person who can give a tough fight and “even win the seat”. “No other person, except I and Virbhadra, has the ability to retain the seat,” he said.

There were murmurs of state Congress chief Kaul Singh Thakur also being among the possible candidates, but with Virbhadra emerging as the sole “winnable” person, Thakur’s candidature now seems far-fetched.

The BJP has put up former Mandi MP Maheshwar Singh as its candidate, despite resistance by some party leaders from Kullu.

A PCC special messenger on Monday handed over the list of prospective candidates for the four seats in the state to R.K. Dhawan, in charge of party affairs for Himachal.

For Kangra and Shimla (Reserved), the state Congress has recommended one name each — of sitting MPs Chander Kumar and Dhani Ram Shandil, respectively.

For the Hamirpur seat, though, there appears to be quite a tussle on. The names recommended include those of O.P. Rattan, who unsuccessfully contested against Anurag Thakur in the 2008 bypoll; and Ranjit Verma, a former MP. But, all eyes are on Narinder Thakur, son of veteran BJP leader Jagdev Chand, who recently revolted against the BJP and joined the Congress.

Though a vocal section of the Congress leadership, including members of the state election committee, were opposed to Narinder’s candidature, Kaul Singh managed to get the majority view on his side and got his name included, sources said.

Sitting MLAs and PCC general secretaries Mukesh Agnihotri and Sukhwinder Sukhu are also being suggested as possible candidates, but both are not keen to enter the fray from the seat.

Sukh Ram’s decision against contesting the polls also implies that the Congress will not have any Brahmin candidate for the Lok Sabha polls this time.

BJP re-inducts former rebels
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Bharatiya Janata Party has started re-inducting those leaders into the party who had fallen out during the Assembly elections in 2007. Former Cabinet minister Roop Das Kashyap on Tuesday submitted a formal application to organisation secretary Mahendra Pandey for returning to the party fold. It is expected that after approval from party president Jai Ram Thakur, he would soon be taken back into the party.

Another induction into the BJP on Tuesday was that of Amar Singh Chauhan, who contested as an independent from Shillai Vidhan Sabha seat in Sirmour.