Keep HPCC lean and mean, state leaders urge in-charge Patil
Rajni Patil, the AICC in-charge for Himachal, started the two-day brainstorming session for the reconstitution of the dissolved Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) with the state party leaders here today. She met former party presidents, former ministers, HPCC president Pratibha Singh, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and his ministers to take their feedback on the party and the potential candidates for the revamped HPCC.
According to sources, the state leaders urged Patil to reconstitute the HPCC at the earliest as more than three months had elapsed since the state body was dissolved. Also, the leaders demanded that the body should be lean and effective, unlike the previous state body which had over 350 office-bearers. “Also, we requested the in-charge to not appoint any such individual as office-bearer who can’t get lead even from his own polling booth,” said a senior leader. The party leaders also stressed on the need to have good coordination between the government and the organisation.
Apart from the reconstitution of the HPCC, the other big question doing the rounds in the Congress camp is about who will head the next HPCC. The incumbent president Pratibha Singh will complete the three -year term in April, but extension of the term is quite common in the party. “Why would this be discussed when we already have a president,” said a leader close to the president. Yet, speculation about whether Pratibha Singh will continue or not is rife since the HPCC was dissolved.
Meanwhile, Patil refrained from giving a time frame for the reconstitution of the body. “I will take the report of my discussions here to Delhi, discuss it with the leadership and then move ahead,” said Patil.
When told that party workers had become disillusioned without the organisation and senior ministers had been calling the party “paralysed,” Patil said she didn’t agree with the observation. “The party is not paralysed, workers and leaders are very capable. Despite the BJP government at the Centre, they defeated the BJP here,” she said.
