Himachal's senior Congress leaders summoned to Delhi

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, March 21

The Congress high command has summoned about 12 senior leaders from Himachal to chalk out a strategy for the state Assembly elections due later this year.

To meet Sonia Gandhi

• The state leaders will meet AICC chief Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on Tuesday.
• To give feedback on changes needed to ensure the return of Congress to power in Himachal.
• The BJP, which was disappointed after the byelection defeat, is all energised for the Mission Repeat.

It has been learnt that the party leaders will meet AICC president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi tomorrow. Sources say HPCC president Kuldeep Rathore, CLP leader Mukesh Agnihotri, former state Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Mandi MP Pratibha Singh, Asha Kumari, Harshwardhan Chauhan, Harsh Mahajan, Rajinder Rana and Ashray Sharma, besides others have been summoned.

The party high command will take feedback from the state leaders about the changes needed to ensure that the Congress returns to power in Himachal. No party has formed governments successively in the state since 1985.

A section of the state Congress leadership has been demanding that a senior leader with experience of electoral politics be appointed as HPCC president, replacing Rathore. However, the party high command has not taken any decision though speculation was rife in political circles that Agnihotri could be entrusted the responsibility of leading the party.

The Congress will have to tread cautiously by striking a regional and caste balance, which is imperative in Himachal politics. With AAP threatening to make its presence felt after its resounding victory in Punjab, the high command will have to keep all sections happy, as disgruntled party leaders will now have the option of joining AAP.

Major organisational changes in Himachal have been expected for the past some time, but the exercise was put on hold. As the Assembly election results of five states are now known, the party high command is keen to take timely decisions.

The Congress had won all four byelections, including the Mandi Lok Sabha byelection, last year but the virtual rout of the party in the recent Assembly elctions in five states has rung alarm bells for the party leadership.