SHIMLA: Facing the challenge of reclaiming all four BJP-ruled parliamentary seats of Himachal Pradesh, the Congress in Himachal Pradesh has finally opened its doors to rebels who were thrown out of the outfit in 2014 for either contesting against the party’s official nominee or involvement in anti-party activities.A four-member committee decided to take back 46 rebels, including former MLAs, on Saturday. A leader said many such requests had been rejected or kept pending, and some of those left out were given time to explain themselves in a week. In all, the party got 65 applications.In the 2017 assembly elections, 12 party leaders had contested the election against official candidates and these rebels included Hardeep Singh Bawa from Nalagarh , Puran Chand Thakur from Darang, Harish Janartha from Shimla Urban, Singhi Ram from Rampur, Rajender Karpa from Lahaul-Spiti, Digvijay Puri from Dharamshala, Rajeev Gautam from Una, Shiv Haripal from Kutlehar, Rattan Singh Kashyap from Pachhad, Mast Ram from Karsog, Vijender Dhiman from Jwalamukhi, and Pankaj Kumar from Dharamshala.On Saturday, the committee rejected the applications of Hardeep Singh Bawa and Puran Chand Thakur, both loyalists of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh. It kept the applications of Harish Janartha, Singhi Ram and Rajender Karpa, all loyalists of Virbhadra Singh, pending. Also, seven other rebels who contested against the Congress’s official candidates were readmitted into party.Himachal Pradesh Congress Comittee (HPCC) leader Gurkirat Singh is heading the committee, while senior leaders G S Bali, Vidya Stokes and Kaul Singh Thakur are its members.The committee also decided that there would be no reinductionin the party in cases where the rebel was facing strong opposition within the party or had a criminal record as this would harm the party.In 2014 parliamentary elections, BJP had won the all four seats of Himachal Pradesh. In past five years, Congress has claimed that it strengthened itself at the grassroots, but factionalism and rivalry in the party’s state unit is still a matter of concern for the party high command. Now, the Congress is facing the challenge of winning all four seats.For long, there was a demand to take back rebels, especially by former chief minister Virbhadra Singh. However, the previous president of Himachal Pradesh Congress, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, did not decide on this. After the Congress high command replaced Sukhu by appointing Kuldeep Singh Rathore as state president, the process has been started to ensure the return of rebels, many of whom enjoy considerable clout in their areas.A senior party leader said 65 applications were received and 40 rebels — including three former MLAs — had been taken back with the objective of strengthening the party ahead of partliamentary polls.

Stay updated with all the Latest Shimla headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.