SHIMLA: Demanding change of guard in the Himachal unit ahead of the Assembly elections next year, 10 Congress MLAs called on AICC state in-charge Rajeev Shukla in New Delhi. Newly elected MLAs from Jubbal-Kotkhai and Arki, Rohit Thakur and Sanjay Awasthi, are among the MLAs from Solan, Shimla and Kullu districts. They have grouped under Nadaun MLA Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and have demanded either Leader of Opposition or state unit chief’s post for him.
Kuldeep Rathore is currently heading the party in state. Though, he was being credited for recent victory in by-elections of the Congress party where ruling BJP was defeated badly on all four seats, three assembly seats and one Mandi Parliamentary seat.
Pratibha Singh had won the Mandi Parliamentary seat. It is the home district of sitting BJP Chief Minister Jairam Thakur. Pratibha Singh is the wife of former six term Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. It was the major victory for the Singh’s family after the demise of Singh.
In a major surprise, Pratibha Singh went alone to meet the Congress party president Sonia Gandhi at Delhi and didn’t take Kuldeep Rathore along.
When contacted, Rathore said that he was contacted for this but due to his busy schedule he didn’t go to Delhi. He said that during the by-polls he had addressed around 80 rallies in the state.
Reacting to the current move by congress MLAs, he said that party leaders usually go to Delhi to meet their leaders, so there is nothing to worry about.
While repeated attempts to contact Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu turned futile. His personal staff said that they were still in Delhi and they may stay there for a long time.
In a recent development, Pratibha Singh has been inducted into AICC which has further added to the influence of the Singh’s family in state politics. Vikramaditya Singh, son of Pratibha Singh is a sitting MLA from Shimla rural constituency.