Virbhadra, Anand Sharma in Congress' Himachal strategy panel

New Delhi, May 7 (IANS) Senior leaders including union ministers Virbhadra Singh and Anand Sharma have been included in the Congress' newly-constituted strategy committee for Himachal Pradesh, the party said Monday.

The nine-member strategy committee, formed in view of assembly polls later this year, includes several other senior leaders including state Congress chief Kaul Singh Thakur.

While the panel includes some loyalists of Virbhadra Singh, who is union micro, small and medium enterprises and a former state chief minister, it also has leaders who are chief ministerial aspirants.

A statement issued by Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said party president Sonia Gandhi had reconstituted the coordination committee of the party and named it the strategy committee.

Apart from Virbhadra Singh, Kaul Singh and Anand Sharma, who is union commerce minister, the strategy committee includes Vidya Stokes, Gangu Ram Musafir, G.S. Bali, Viplove Thakur, Chander Kumar and Harbhajan Singh Bhajji.