Congress Goes to EC Over Himachal Speaker Addressing BJP Rallies; CM Defends Campaign

EC has asked for speaker Rajeev Bindal’s itinerary for the day.

New Delhi: The opposition Congress in Himachal Pradesh has complained to the Election Commission, claiming a Model Code of Conduct violation over state speaker Rajeev Bindal allegedly campaigning for the BJP candidate ahead of the Pachhad bypoll.

Congress state leaders were quoted by local news outlets demanding that the speaker resign on the ground that he took part in BJP’s election campaign activities in spite of holding a constitutional position. 

Bypolls to the Pachhad assembly constituency will take place on October 21.

News reports said Congress has alleged that Bindal took part in an election rally at Thakurwada, of the state’s Sirmaur district, on October 10, in support of BJP candidate Reena Kashyap. 

On October 12, Congress submitted a formal complaint to the EC, seeking a directive to not allow the speaker to campaign for BJP.

It said that if the EC did not respond to its complaint, it would be “compelled” to go to the President of India. The party said that though it provided “evidence” of Bindal addressing rallies at Naina Tikkar on October 4, and thereafter in Thakurdwada on October 10, the EC has not taken any action. 

Speaking to Amar Ujala, BJP district president Vinay Gupta denied the charge and said the speaker had been on a trip to Chandigarh and did not participate in any rally.

Also read: Elections 2019 Among ‘Least Free and Fair’ in Three Decades: Ex-Officials Write to EC

However, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, interestingly, tried justifying the speaker’s alleged presence by stating that there had been instances where such a position holder has campaigned for a party in other states.

On getting to know about Bindal’s participation in the BJP rally, local Congress members reportedly held a protest in Thakurwada and showed black flags to him as he passed them by in a car. 

Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Kuldeep Rathore was quoted in a report on The Tribune as having said, “I was surprised to hear that Thakur had justified Bindal’s involvement in the bypoll campaigning saying that in many other states too, speakers had campaigned.” 


Congress legislative party leader Mukesh Agnihotri called the justification given by the chief minister for Bindal’s alleged presence at a poll rally “a shocker” and reminded him of former BJP leader Shanta Kumar asking speaker Shrawan Kumar to resign from his post before attending a Janta Legislative Party meeting in July 1979.  

Meanwhile, acting on the Congress’ formal complaint, EC has sought the programme schedule of the speaker from the assembly secretary and has also asked whether he has been addressing public rallies. A news report said the ECI would take “further action in the matter after receiving a reply rom the assembly secretary”. 

BJP Pachhad candidate Reena Kashyap was a part of the state unit’s IT cell and is venturing into electoral politics for the first time. The seat had fallen vacant after Suresh Kashyap of the BJP was elected to the present Lok Sabha. 

Though Kashyap had won the seat for BJP for two consecutive terms, Reena is likely to face a considerable amount of challenge from the independent candidate Dayal Pyari Kashyap. A youth leader, Dayal Pyari was long considered the frontrunner for the BJP ticket from Pachhad.

After having been denied it, she has decided to contest the polls as an independent. She was then ousted from the party. 

Since Dayal Pyari is a popular figure among the voters in Pachhad, the BJP has not left any stone unturned to pull off a win for Reena. Aside from Suresh Kashyap, chief minister Thakur and former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal were also seen campaigning for Reena in Pachhad.

The man in the crossfire, speaker Bindal is a two-time MLA from Nahan, the neighbouring assembly seat of Pachhad. 


The Congress has also opposed the BJP using deputy speaker Hans Raj Has in by-election campaigns and thus setting a wrong precedent. 

In Dharamshala, the other assembly seat going to bypolls on October 21, news reports have said the party state unit has given the deputy speaker “charge of one of the four zones of the constituency”. In late September, a video of party’s youth members heckling the deputy speaker in Dharamshala for not giving tickets to local leaders had gone viral.