Congress high command summons state leaders to Delhi on August 4

AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will hold a meeting with senior Himachal leaders in New Delhi on August 4. There is a possibility that a decision on the appointment of the new state Congress president and the reconstitution of the defunct party organisation will be finally taken there.

Leader from reserved category may be appointed president

1. A decision on the reconstitution of the defunct party organisation will be

taken at a meeting

2. The Congress high command is keen to appoint a leader from the reserved category as the party president to woo people belonging to the community

3. As such, the names of Ayurveda Minister Yadvinder Goma, Deputy Speaker Vinay Kumar, MLAs Vinod Sultanpuri (Kasauli) and Suresh Kumar (Bhoranj) are doing the rounds

4. However, as Goma is reluctant to quit his ministerial berth, the choice has narrowed down to Vinay Kumar and first-time MLAs Sultanpuri and Suresh

5. Vinay Kumar, a three-time MLA from Renukaji in Sirmaur district, even had a meeting with AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge

The high command has summoned Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, state Congress president Pratibha Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and ministers Chander Kumar, Dhani Ram Shandil, Harshwardhan Chauhan and Rohit Thakur for the important meeting. In-charge of Congress Affairs in Himachal Rajni Patil will also attend the meeting. There is a possibility that the high command may appoint a leader from the reserved category as the state party president.

The party high command had held several rounds of talks with the state leaders in the past but failed to arrive at a consensus on the name of the state party president. Rajni Patil had held several rounds of talks with Sukhu, ministers, MLAs and senior leaders to get feedback on the new state party president but could not forge a consensus on one name.

The possibility of senior leaders arriving at a consensus on the name of the new state Congress president cannot be ruled out at the Delhi meeting. The endeavour of the central leadership will be to strike a regional and caste balance while appointing the new party chief.

The entire party set-up in Himachal, including the state body, district and block units, was dissolved over eight months ago but the party high command had not been able to reconstitute these units. The possibility of present state Congress president Pratibha Singh getting another term cannot be ruled out as Sukhu had said on several occasions that he was not averse to her being given another term, as she had done good work.

Sources say that the party high command is keen to appoint a leader from the reserved category as the party president to woo people belonging to the community. As such, the names of Ayurveda Minister Yadvinder Goma, Deputy Speaker Vinay Kumar, MLAs Vinod Sultanpuri (Kasauli) and Suresh Kumar (Bhoranj) are doing the rounds. However, as Goma is reluctant to quit his ministerial berth, the choice has narrowed down to Vinay Kumar and first-time MLAs Sultanpuri and Suresh.

There is high probability that a leader from the reserved category will be given the reins of the party but the choice with the central leadership has narrowed down considerably as no minister is willing to quit the Cabinet to assume the party’s responsibility. Vinay Kumar, a three-time MLA from Renukaji in Sirmaur district, even had a meeting with AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge.