Himachal Congress MLAs Leave it to Party High Command to Name the New Chief Minister

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Dec 9: After a day of drama and slogan shouting by the supporters of various claimants, the Himachal Pradesh Congress Legislature Party at its meeting in Shimla on Friday evening finally adopted a one-line resolution authorising the party high command to name the new chief minister.

That essentially means Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, besides Priyanka Gandhi who campaigned aggressively in Himachal along with new national president Mallikarjun Kharge. The MLAs’ meeting was held with central leaders and HP observer Rajeev Shukla, the former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel present as high command’s observers to coordinate.

The one-line resolution came after a show of strength by the supporters of state Congress chief Pratibha Singh ahead of the meeting in Shimla, which happens to be her family’s area of dominance. A horde of party workers raised slogans and even blocked Bhupesh Baghel’s car, demanding that Pratibha Singh, a three-time MP and wife of the late leader Virbhadra Singh, an ex-royal, “deserves the top post.”

In the race besides her are Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Mukesh Agnihotri, both of whom have their pockets of support in areas some distance away from Shimla. Since the meeting was in Shimla, the support for Pratibha Singh grabbed the optics. Dark horses such as Harshwardhan Chauhan are seen to be in the race too.

Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, a third-time MLA from Nadaun in Hamirpur district, has risen through the ranks from the Congress wing National Student Union of India (NSUI). He did say, at least on camera today, that he’s not a claimant, but he made a more characteristically straight remark during the campaign: “Yes, definitely, I too have aspirations to be Chief Minister.”

The Legislature Party began under the supervision of the high command observers the arduous task of electing the new chief minister amidst chaotic scenes as some of its workers in characteristic Congress style raised slogans and blocked Baghel’s car in an aggressive show of support for Pratibha Singh for the top job.

The wife of the former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, Pratibha Singh is a member of Parliament and did not contest the Assembly elections though she was given a relatively free hand by the high command and successfully led the party to victory.

The meeting began in Shimla on Friday evening as supporters of Pratibha Singh raised slogans for “Rani Sahiba” at Oberoi Cecil Hotel in Shimla ahead of a meeting of the newly elected MLAs. Baghel, Hooda, and Rajeev Shukla, co-in-charge Gurkeerat Singh Kotli, state Congress co-in charge Tajinder Pal Bittu, state party president and MP Pratibha Singh were present at the meeting attended by all the 40 newly-elected MLAs at the State Congress Headquarters Rajiv Bhawan.

Amid reports of lobbying for the Himachal Pradesh chief minister’s post, Congress leaders, however, claimed there were no separate groups and a decision would be made by the party high command. “There are no separate groups in Congress. Chief Minister will be decided by MLAs in the CLP meeting and party high command will take the final decision,” said Jawalamukhi MLA Sanjay Ratan. Sudhir Sharma also said, “A person chosen by the elected MLAs and party high command will be the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh.”

Ahead of the legislature party meeting, Congress observers Bhupesh Baghel, Hooda and Rajeev Shukla met Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar and submitted a list of the party’s winning candidates. A party spokesman said the delegation told the governor, “We have come to seek your time to present our credentials to form government in the state. The party has won the assembly polls with a majority.”

The high command faced a tough time with at least four claimants emerging for the chief minister’s post with Pratibha Singh considered to be the frontrunner. Though Shukla said “There is no divide,” a video showed Congress workers surrounding Baghel’s car and raising slogans in favour of Pratibha Singh.

There are at least three more candidates for the top job – Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Mukesh Agnihotri, and Harshwardhan Chauhan. Supporters of Sukhvinder Sukhu also gathered outside the hotel to push for their leader. Mr Sukhu is a five-time MLA who has often angled for the post of Chief Minister in the past.

On Friday morning, Pratibha Singh sought to remind her party that the elections were fought and won in the name of her husband Virbhadra Singh, who died last year, and his family could not be neglected. “I think I can lead the state as the Chief Minister since Sonia ji and the High Command gave me the responsibility to lead the party ahead of the elections. They should command me to take over as Chief Minister and I will do that work too with dignity and to the best of my responsibility.”

“It won’t be right to sideline Virbhadra Singh’s family when the election was fought and won in the name of Virbhadra Singh. We won 40 seats only because people have a strong emotional connect with Virbhadra Singh,” Ms Singh asserted.