As bypolls inch closer, cracks in Himachal Congress widens

Party’s state general secretary Vinod Sultanpuri stepped down over “arbitrary” functioning of the state Congress chief Kuldeep Singh Rathore on Monday.

Cracks in Himachal Pradesh Congress became more visible on Monday as the state general secretary Vinod Sultanpuri stepped down over “arbitrary” functioning of the state Congress chief Kuldeep Singh Rathore.

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Seeking All India Congress Committee (AICC) interim president Sonia Gandhi’s intervention, Sultanpuri refused to hand over his resignation to Rathore and communicate the same to Gandhi through a letter.

Sultanpuri, who is the son of former six-term MP KD Sultanpuri, is reportedly piqued over the functioning of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) chief. In the letter, he alleged that the state Congress has “touched its low under the command of Rathore, who has learnt no lesson from the humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections”.

“It has been four months since Lok Sabha polls and no movement or protests has been launched against the wrong policies of central and state government,” he wrote.

“Nor meetings of state Congress are being held,” he said, alleging that the state Congress chief was busy in celebrating his birthday at the state party headquarters.

Sultanpuri further wrote that the byelection for the two assembly segments, Dharamshala and Pachhad, has also been announced but the party seems to be ill-prepared on ground.

“Morale of the party workers is down due to arbitrary functioning of state Congress chief,” he alleged.

He said instead of uniting the party, Rathore was dividing the cadres and as a result Congress leaders were indulging in mud-slinging against each other.

“This is not a good sign. The state president sidelined dedicated workers in appointments of block presidents who have no public connect,” he alleged.

He said the organisation is in shambles under Rathore’s leadership. “I cannot see the party in such a poor state,” he said.