Ahead of his plans to get Pratibha Singh, his wife and former Lok Sabha member, fielded as party candidate from Rohru, the Assembly constituency he represented for 17 years, Union minister Virbhadra Singh is faced with two counter claims.

Two of his staunch loyalists — Harinder Rawat, son of former Congress legislator Nehar Singh and local block samiti chairman Manjit Singh — have put forward their claims for the ticket against Pratibha Singh. Nehar Singh was denied ticket in 1990 when Virbhadra Singh, then contesting from two constituencies, opted for Rohru. With Virbhadra vacating the seat following his election to the Lok Sabha, Rawat wants the Congress to allot the bypoll ticket to him. With Manjit Singh, another loyalist, also staking claim for the ticket, the development has caused embarrassment to the Congress, especially to Virbhadra. Pratibha, who did not contest the Lok Sabha elections from Mandi to pave way for her husband, was earlier supposed to a lone claimant for the ticket.

The Union minister admits that his wife is a contender for the ticket but has been maintaining that it is up to the party to decide on her candidature. He has already toured Rohru thrice in the last one month and addressed a series of pre-poll meetings there.

Vidya Sagar, president of the District Congress Committee (Rural), said: “Though the DCC has recommended only Pratibha Singh’s name, two other Congressmen too have applied for the ticket. I am surprised as to why have they done so. There was no compelling reason. We are trying to speak to these people.”

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