In New Delhi, amid concerns of internal divisions within the Himachal Pradesh unit, senior Congress figure Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has issued a rallying cry, urging state leaders to set aside differences, refrain from public conflicts, and unite against the BJP in a bid to secure victory across all four Lok Sabha constituencies.
Priyanka, who spearheaded the Congress campaign for the 2022 Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the party’s national election strategy in collaboration with AICC general secretary overseeing the state, Rajeev Shukla. This strategic meeting also saw the participation of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, state unit chief Pratibha Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, and other key leaders.
“We deliberated extensively on the approach for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Priyanka Gandhi emphasizes the importance of unity within the state team to effectively challenge the BJP. Our collective objective is to secure victory across all four parliamentary constituencies in the state. Each member is encouraged to actively contribute to the party’s campaign, which will highlight the shortcomings of the Modi government over the past decade,” remarked Himachal Pradesh Congress chief Pratibha Singh in a conversation with ETV Bharat.
“In order to disseminate the Congress manifesto’s message, we aim to reach every household in the coming weeks. The electorate demonstrated faith in the party’s commitments to social welfare during the assembly polls, and we anticipate their continued support in the forthcoming national elections,” she added.
In the 2019 elections, the BJP claimed victory in all four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh – Mandi, Kangra, Hamirpur, and Shimla. However, Pratibha Singh’s triumph in the Mandi Lok Sabha by-election in 2021 provided a glimmer of hope for the Congress. While the party intends to introduce fresh faces in three constituencies, there’s a consensus to nominate Pratibha Singh once again in Mandi to counter BJP’s candidate, actress Kangana Ranaut.
Recent developments suggest that Pratibha Singh’s son and state minister, Vikramaditya Singh, has been actively targeting Kangana, sparking speculation that he might be nominated as the Congress candidate from Mandi, a stronghold for the party.
Insiders reveal that the party leadership is in no rush to finalize candidates for the June 1 polls, though they acknowledge pressure from ally AAP to expedite the selection process in order to counter the BJP effectively.
In addition to the Lok Sabha elections, the strategy meeting chaired by Priyanka Gandhi also addressed the by-elections in six assembly seats scheduled for June 1.
Six Congress rebels, expelled by the Assembly Speaker, are now contesting the by-polls under the BJP banner. The Sukhu government faced a crisis when these six rebel MLAs voted against the party’s Rajya Sabha nominee, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, resulting in BJP’s Harsha Mahajan’s victory in a tie.
Factionalism within the state unit came to the fore when PWD minister Vikramaditya Singh resigned in protest against Sukhu’s leadership style. However, he later withdrew his resignation following intervention from AICC observer DK Shiv Kumar.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu has been consistently criticizing the six rebels for defecting to the BJP. Following the chief minister’s allegations that the rebels received Rs 15 crore each from the BJP, Sudhir Sharma filed a defamation suit against Sukhu. Party insiders suggest that further revelations regarding the alleged bribes will expose the rebels even more.
“We are confident of securing victories in all four Lok Sabha seats and the six assembly by-polls,” affirmed AICC secretary in charge of Himachal, Tajinder Pal Singh, in an interview with ETV Bharat.
Congress Working Committee member and former union minister Anand Sharma, who previously raised concerns over the caste census issue in a letter to senior leaders, also participated in the Himachal Pradesh review meeting, according to party sources.
Ahead of the 2022 assembly polls, Sharma had expressed dissatisfaction with being sidelined by the new state leadership under Pratibha Singh, then CLP leader Mukesh Agnihotri, and campaign committee chief Sukhvinder Sukhu. However, state leaders subsequently engaged him in the electoral process, a trend expected to continue in the lead-up to the Lok Sabha polls.