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Sukhu questions successor Rathore’s HP Cong revival plan
Proposes state coordination committee to strengthen party unit for panchayat elections in December
At a time when the Congress is chalking out a strategy to galvanise its cadre for the 2022 Lok Sabha elections, fresh infighting has erupted in the party’s Himachal Pradesh unit.
Former state party chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has written to All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Rajni Patil against his successor, Kuldeep Singh Rathore, questioning his strategy to revive the party.
Sukhu objected to Rathore making appointments in block and district units without consulting senior leaders.
He drew the attention of Patil, who is the party’s Himachal affairs in-charge, towards the decline of the Congress votebank after the 2017 assembly elections. “We are losing our vote share since 2017. The Election Commission electoral data shows the Congress votebank as 27% in the Lok Sabha election of 2019, the lowest as compared to all previous elections. The party’s share further declined when we lost the two assembly byelections in 2019,” he said.
Sukhu suggested the party high command set up a state coordination committee, led by Patil and comprising senior party leaders. He said committee members could suggest ways to strengthen the party and their viewpoint should be considered before appointments are made to block and district Congress committees.
“The committee’s opinion may be considered for important political matters. The aim is to corner the BJP, particularly with the panchayat elections due in December 2020. It’s wiser to form the coordination committee as early as possible. Nobody should take offence to my suggestion. I too have experience in running the organisation. Better coordination will help brace the cadre and give priority to genuine workers at the grassroots.”
After losing all four parliamentary seats in the 2014 elections, the Congress lost to the BJP in the 2017 assembly elections. Of the total 68 assembly segments, the Congress could not secure a lead from even a single assembly segment. Infighting was blamed for the drubbing. On the other hand, the BJP camp was far more organised.
Today, the power struggle is going on with Sukhu trying to assert himself, while senior party leader Ram Lal Thakur is lobbying hard to replace state unit chief Kuldeep Singh Rathore, a confidant of Anand Sharma, the Congress deputy leader in Rajya Sabha.
