With a fortnight left until the announcement of the results of the Himachal Pradesh elections held last month, Congress heavyweights in the state are going for the fences in hopes of securing the chief ministerial post.
Congress sources said internal surveys indicate that the party is likely to get a majority in the Himachal polls, increasing the number of contenders for the chief minister’s post. According to a senior leader, the Congress is confident of winning 42 to 46 seats in Himachal, and some independent MLAs who are expected to compete are also in touch.
The situation is that the senior leaders of Himachal Pradesh have already started making their presence felt in Delhi. Former state president and head of the campaign committee Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu is visiting senior leaders in Delhi, while Pratibha Singh, the party MP from Mandi and wife of former CM Virbhadra Singh, and her son Vikramaditya are also proposing to visit the national capital.
After becoming the Himachal Pradesh CM in 1983, Virbhadra Singh had been dominating the state Congress. Whenever the party formed the government, he became the CM of Himachal.
This is the first election since 1983 that the party fought without Virbhadra Singh due to his demise.
However, it was because of Virbhadra Singh’s dominance that his wife, Pratibha Singh, jumped into the election and became president before the election. Vikramaditya, his MLA son, was also nominated for re-election. However, his lack of administrative experience is impeding the CM’s relationship with the Royal family, according to sources.
Another big leader from the Thakur community, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the former Himachal Congress president, is also in the race for the chief ministerial post. Sukhvinder, who had also been the state NSUI and Youth Congress chief, never had good terms with Virbhadra Singh. Further, six-time MLA from Dalhousie Asha Kumari comes from the royal family of the Thakur caste. Asha Kumari is the sister of TS Singh Deo, the minister in the Chhattisgarh government. Notably, it is said that the party high command had promised to make TS Singh Deo CM for two and a half years, which was not fulfilled, and Bhupesh Baghel continued as Chhattisgarh CM.
Sources in the party said if Asha Kumari, who was a cabinet minister earlier, reaches the assembly for the seventh term, then the family might claim the chief ministerial post for her. Long political fight between Asha Kumari and Virbhadra Singh as well. It was said that Asha Kumari was also not on good terms with Virbhadra Singh.
Keeping the family of Late Virbhadra Singh out of the Chief Minister’s chair and handing over the baton to his opponent, Thakur leader, will now prove difficult for the high command, and the rest of the veterans may oppose the Thakur leader of a low-status royal family, according to sources.
In such a situation, two influential Brahmin leaders, Mukesh Agnihotri and Sudhir Sharma, who are close to Virbhadra Singh’s family, could be alternative choices for the party.
However, in Himachal Pradesh politics, it is tough for the Congress high command to give preference to Brahmins in comparison to Thakurs. After all, whether it’s the Congress or the BJP, they’ve been betting on Thakurs with more population for the CM’s chair for years, whether it’s Virbhadra Singh, Prem Kumar Dhumal, or Jairam Thakur.
On Tuesday, senior Congress leader Rajiv Shukla held a meeting with all the candidates for Congress in the Himachal Assembly polls and discussed the preparations for the counting day.
It’s worth noting that the Congress expressed similar hopes following the Uttarakhand elections a few months ago, and plans were made to make Harish Rawat the chief minister, but the results were different, and the BJP formed the government. This time, the Congress has asked its leaders not to leave Delhi until the Himachal Pradesh election results are announced.
Restlessness can be witnessed among the leaders of the party’s Himachal unit, and individual efforts are being made to improve their luck. For this, the process of getting winnable MLAs into their fold has also started below ground.
Polling for 68 legislative assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh was held on November 12, and the state recorded a 75.6 percent voter turnout, thus breaking the 2017 record.
