‘Will connect with youth’: Pratibha Singh backs New Himachal Congress president Vinay

A day after the Congress appointed Vinay Kumar as the new president of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee, outgoing chief Pratibha Singh on Sunday said the appointment was made after considering regional and caste equations, and the young leader would connect with the youth.

“The appointment has been made thoughtfully. We are grateful to the Congress high command for appointing Vinay Kumar, a young face representing Sirmaur district,” Singh told PTI Videos.

The Congress has also said that it has reposed faith in a young leader from the reserved category to lead the state which has a sizable Dalit population, according to sources.

Kumar (47) was the Deputy Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha and tendered his resignation from the post, which Speaker Kuldeep Pathania accepted on Saturday.

A three-term Dalit MLA from Sri Renukaji in Sirmaur district, he was born in an agriculturist Koli family in Renukaji. His father Prem Singh also served as an MLA representing the Renukaji seat for four times before his demise in 2011.

The appointment had been held up for quite some time, as the hill state did not have a Pradesh Congress Committee after the previous committee headed by Singh was dissolved on November 6 last year.

The state Congress was almost defunct without a local unit for more than a year, with only Singh continuing as the PCC chief.

“There is a need to rejuvenate the Congress workers left disappointed and sitting at home due to the delay in appointing a new state unit chief.

“I hope Kumar would take everyone together and fulfil the hopes of the Congress workers,” Pratibha Singh said.

“I will meet Kumar tomorrow and tell him that taking everyone together would benefit the party. I also hope that senior leaders would be given their due place in the organisation,” she added.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had said that youth leaders should be given a chance, and Kumar is a good choice to connect with the youth, she said.

Stating that Kumar’s father Prem Singh was close to former chief minister and her husband late Virbhadra Singh, she said it was the veteran leader who gave her successor ticket from Sri Renukaji in 2012 after Prem Singh’s demise.

Kumar, considered a close aide of Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, has been representing Renukaji since 2012.

He served as a Chief Parliamentary Secretary from December 2012 to December 2017, and also as the Chairman of the Renuka Development Board from 2013 to 2017.

Kumar was also appointed the working president of the HPCC in April 2022.