No preference, will accept any leader chosen as Congress president by high command: Sukhu

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today said that there were no factions in the Congress and he was willing to accept and support any leader that the party high command chooses as the state Congress president.

Sukhu, while talking to mediapersons here, said that he had no personal choices and he would accept any leader as the state Congress president. “All leaders are equal for me and I have no personal choice and there are no factions in the party. The Congress is working on the ideology we follow, so any party man will be acceptable to me,” he added.

He said that he held detailed discussions with AICC in-charge for Congress affairs in Himachal Rajni Patil on party programmes and strengthening the organisation. “I could not meet Rajni Patil for the past two days due to the Vidhan Sabha monsoon session, so I met her on Saturday and discussed the issues to be raised in the Assembly and in the people’s court,” he added.

Sukhu accused the BJP of having double standards and said that the Opposition brought a resolution under Rule 67 on disaster relief in the Assembly but walked out without listening to the reply of the government. “The Congress has already sought a debate on the issue under Rule 130. We agreed for a debate under Rule 67 and the House held a discussion for four days but when the Revenue Minister was to give a reply, the Opposition walked out,” he lamented.

He said that despite repeated pleas, the Central Government had so far not announced any relief package for Himachal in view of large-scale destruction of public and private property caused by cloudbursts and landslides. “It is wrong that the BJP is indulging in politics even during an unfortunate time like a disaster. It is staging walkouts rather than taking part in debates,” he added.

Sukhu said, “From our limited resources we are trying to provide relief to the affected people. We are providing Rs 7 lakh for a totally damaged house, Rs 70,000 for household belongings, Rs 1 lakh for a partially-damaged house and Rs 50,000 for the loss of cattle.”

He said that the Central Government should announce a special financial package for Himachal. “Our state is reeling under the impact of climate change, global warming and other weather-related changes. Today, Himachal is suffering, tomorrow other areas will feel the impact,” he added.