The fate of two men, chosen by 10 Janpath to contest the elections in Himachal Pradesh, was decided on Friday. While the commando, who once guarded Sonia Gandhi, emerged victorious, for the cook’s son the polls left a bitter taste.

Former Special Protection Group commando Nand Lal bagged the Rampur reserved seat for the Congress in Shimla district. The DIG-rank officer, who quit his job last month and replaced Horticulture Minister and six-time legislator Singhi Ram, defeated BJP’s Brij Lal by 6,000 votes. Virbhadra Singh’s forefathers had ruled over Rampur Busheshr for centuries. Singhi Ram was denied ticket, apparently at the behest of Virbhadra Singh who was upset with him.

Nand Lal had completed his PG in political science from Himachal University prior to joining ITBP as assistant commandant in 1980 and later he joined the SPG.

However, Prakash Chand Karad (37), whose father Padma Ram had served the Nehru-Gandhi family as a cook for three decades, was not as lucky as Nand Lal. He lost to BJP’s Govind Ram by a margin of 6,687 votes from Arki Assembly constituency. Karad stood at third position getting barely 7,000 votes.

Karad was never a favourite in this Rajput-dominated constituency. What made the job tough for him was the presence of Congress rebel and former Deputy Speaker Dharampal Thakur, a three-time winner. Thakur was denied ticket to field Karad. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who had campaigned in the constituency at the last minute, did not conceal his sympathies for Thakur. The local unit of the party too wanted to defeat Karad to send a “befitting” message to the Congress President for not honouring local sentiments and choosing Karad over a veteran leader.

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