Amid infighting between camps in the Congress, the central leadership on Monday held consultations with senior party leaders from the state to resolve issues in the poll-bound Himachal Pradesh.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Himachal affairs Rajeev Shukla held separate discussions with the Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri and former Pradesh Congress Committee president and Nadaun legislator Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu before meeting Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venu Gopal. The AICC co-in-charge of Himachal, Tejinder Pal Singh Bittu and Sanjay Dutt were also present.
Congress has multiple claimants for the chief minister’s post with Agnihotri and Sukhu being the frontrunner, while senior legislator Asha Kumari, senior Congress leaders Ram Lal Thakur, Harahwardhan Chauhan and Dhani Ram Shandil too are in contention for the top slot. Mandi Lok Sabha member Pratibha Singh, too, is the face of old Himachal.
Agnihotri and Sukhu both had been covertly and overtly pressing the high command to change the incumbent party chief, Kuldeep Singh Rathore, who took over the reins in 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress lost all the four Lok Sabha seats, Shimla, Mandi, Hamirpur and Kangra, by a huge margin. However, it drew solace from the four seats it won in the October bypolls.
The infighting and leadership issues had raised alarms for the party high command after its rout in Punjab and neighbouring Uttarakhand. There is a growing fear that factionalism could mar Congress prospects in Himachal where the BJP is working overtime to retain power and the Aam Admi Party has announced to field candidates in all 68 assembly segments.
{{/usCountry}}The infighting and leadership issues had raised alarms for the party high command after its rout in Punjab and neighbouring Uttarakhand. There is a growing fear that factionalism could mar Congress prospects in Himachal where the BJP is working overtime to retain power and the Aam Admi Party has announced to field candidates in all 68 assembly segments.
{{/usCountry}}Congress which is considering a change in Himachal is also likely to adopt social engineering while appointing a new party chief and campaign committee in charge. It’s likely that the party could make an official announcement in the next few days.
As per the Census 2011, 50.72% of the state’s population belong to higher castes (32.72% Rajput and 18% Brahmin), 25.22% Scheduled Castes (SCs) 5.71% STs, 13.52% OBCs, and 4.83% belong to other communities.