Not taking any chances after the Punjab defeat, the Congress in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh is not taking any chances.
In the latest initiative by five young MLAs of the Congress in Himachal, an effort is being made to overcome the factionalism within the state Congress by asking senior state leaders to build bridges for the sake of the party. These MLAs are: Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Sudhir Sharma, Rajesh Dharmani, Subhash Manglate and Rakesh Kalia.
With state elections due later this year, these MLAs are going to meet all four senior leaders of the state — Union minister and five-time state chief minister Virbhadra Singh, state Congress president Kaul Singh Thakur, Union minister Anand Sharma and CLP leader Vidya Stokes — and urge them to work unitedly to ensure the party’s victory.
Recently, Mr Singh and Mr Thakur, who is also in the chief ministerial race, had parallel rallies in the state. With the unexpected defeat in the Punjab elections, there is a feeling in the Himachal Congress to address the issue of factionalism urgently.
All these young MLAs had come through the cadres of the Youth Congress. Mr Sukhu, who is also a former Youth Congress president of the state, said: “We have told the party general secretary in-charge of the party, Mr Birender Singh, about the issue. We met PCC president Kaul Singh Thakur today. Soon we would meet all the four senior leaders of the state and tell them about the general mood of the Congress MLAs in the state. Although we five have started this unity movement in the party, a lot of other MLAs have similar views on the issue. We would later apprise the central leadership of the party about the situation,”
There is a wide view within the Himachal Congress that the BJP, which has already gone into poll mode, cannot be taken lightly. There is consensus on one issue: that the party should not suffer due to “ego or ambitions” of big state leaders.