Till a month ago, the BJP wouldn’t have anything to do with Suresh Chandel, its former MP from Hamirpur who was expelled from the House for his involvement in the cash-for-query scam. Even his request to contest the Assembly elections was turned down by the party.

But now the BJP has roped in Chandel’s services for its campaign. Chandel, 47, who was the party’s organising secretary in the early 1990s, is seen as a troubleshooter, a role that is important considering the party’s internal squabbles in the state. Chandel was also party president in Himachal Pradesh during Dhumal’s tenure as chief minister. Both Dhumal and Chandel belong to Himachal’s Hamirpur district.

Party insiders confirmed that the former MP has been asked to supervise the campaign in Kullu. Chandel was in Shimla on Sunday at the party office where organising secretary Ram Lal had convened a meeting of senior leaders, including the party’s chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal.

Though Satyapal Jain, in charge of party affairs in

Himachal Pradesh, denied that Chandel had been given any party assignment, he admitted that he was involved in the campaign.

“Chandel had been a three-time MP. He is still a primary member of the party. If he volunteers his services to the BJP, how can we say no to him,” asks Jain.

For the past year, Chandel has been trying to make amends. In June 2006, during the Lok Sabha byelection for Hamirpur, he had expressed a desire to be part of the process, but the party kept him at a distance. This time he wanted to contest the elections but the BJP once again decided to keep him out of it. Giving him a ticket would have meant giving the Congress a chance to bring up corruption charges once again.

... contd.