ShimlaAug 9, 2025 10:00 IST
First published on: Aug 9, 2025 at 10:00 IST
-
Share
-
Days after holding consultations with the All India Congress Committee (AICC) leadership in Delhi over the appointment of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has said that he suggested to the party high command that the new party unit chief should be from the Scheduled Castes (SCs).
“I suggested to the high command that the new HPCC chief should be from the Dalit community. If the high command considers it appropriate, a cabinet minister can also hold the post. I have given my opinion in writing,” Sukhu said while interacting with the media in Shimla Friday.
Hours later, the incumbent HPCC president, Pratibha Singh, addressing a press conference at the state party headquarters, reiterated the “importance of the legacy” of her husband and six-time former CM late Virbhadra Singh. “A large section of the state’s population still firmly stands with Virbhadra Singh’s legacy, and any neglect of this could prove very harmful for the party in the state,” she said.
Pratibha said she informed the AICC leadership of the “actual political situation in Himachal Pradesh”. “Now, it is up to the party high command to make a decision. There has been an open discussion with the top leadership regarding the formation of the organisation (HPCC),” she said.
The statements made by Sukhu and Pratibha betray deep fissures within the state Congress, which is now playing out in the selection of the new party chief.
On Thursday, Pratibha told The Indian Express, “I conveyed my concerns pertaining to the delay in the appointment of the state party chief and the formation of dissolved block and district-level committees in the meeting chaired by Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. I told them that party workers don’t listen to me because they know that a new party chief is to be appointed – but it is not known when? The party unit has been suffering in the absence of an organisational structure. I urged them that whoever be appointed as the new Congress chief, he or she should be a mass leader.”
Pratibha also said, “I told the senior Congress leaders that the legacy of Virbhadra Singh should not be overlooked. In the last Assembly elections, Congress won with a thumping majority because of the work and name of Virbhadra Singh.”
Congress sources said that during the meetings with the AICC leadership, some ministers also expressed their “dissatisfaction” with the functioning of the Sukhu government.
Sources said that the Congress high command had sought feedback from all senior state party leaders during their open discussion. “Everyone made their suggestions, some reflecting the influence of Pratibha Singh and others that of CM Sukhu. The high command is keen on the ‘one man, one post’ principle, indicating that if a cabinet minister is appointed as party chief, he should relinquish his cabinet berth,” a source said.
A Congress leader close to Sukhu noted that Dalits constitute 27% of Himachal Pradesh’s electorate. “This was the reason the BJP had appointed Shimla MP Suresh Kashyap as state BJP chief twice in the past. The Congress too has had Dalit leaders such as Krishna Dutt Sultanpuri as party chief. Keeping the Dalit community in mind, both the Sukhu and Pratibha Singh camps had suggested the names of two Dalit MLAs for the post of state party chief,” the leader said.
In November 2024, AICC president Kharge had dissolved all block, district, and state-level executive committees of the Himachal Pradesh Congress, allowing only Pratibha to continue as the HPCC chief.