New Congress organisation will be in place by October end: CM

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today said that the state Congress organisation would most likely be reconstituted by the end of October. The Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) was disbanded in November last year. The party leaders had given several timelines for the reconstitution of the party organisation since November, but nothing happened so far.

“The reconstitution of the party organisation was put on hold for some time due to the upcoming unveiling of a statute of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh,” Sukhu said. Virbhadra Singh’s statue would be unveiled on the Mall Road in Shimla on October 13.

Incidentally, there’s no clarity over the HPCC president as well. Current HPCC president Pratibha Singh has completed her three-year term and it’s more or less certain that she will be replaced. Education Minister Rohit Thakur, Deputy Speaker Vinay Kumar, former HPCC president Kuldeep Rathore are among the leaders who are likely to succeed her as the state party president. And it’s clear that the organisation will be reconstituted only after the name of the new state party president is finalised.

The elections to panchayati raj institutions are due in December, so the Congress will look to have its new organisation in place as early as possible now. The BJP, on the other hand, seems organisationally well-prepared for the elections.

Attack on CJI condemned

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu condemned the attempted attack on Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and said that it was an attack on the spirit of the Constitution. He added that the incident was extremely unfortunate and the offender should be given stern punishment.