Himachal Congress chief denies factionalism in party

Himachal Pradesh Congress Chief Pratibha Singh. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

A day after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge dissolved the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) unit in Himachal Pradesh along with the district and block units, the State Congress chief on Thursday (November 7, 2024) said she had been batting for ‘one man, one post’ for long after the formation of the Congress government in the State.

“There is no factionalism in the party and I along with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had jointly written to the party high command for dissolving the units after consultation with Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri and other senior leaders,” she said.

“I have raised the issue of ‘one man one post’ in the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party earlier also and said the Congress leaders in the organisation who are now part of the government should themselves leave their posts and suggest their replacements,” Singh maintained.

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“Senior leaders of the party would be consulted and their suggestions on whom they want to see at the posts would be considered so that they work unitedly to strengthen the Congress in the State,” she said.

“Inactive leaders would be replaced by hard-working people who can spare more time for party work,” she said and added that senior leaders, women, youths, SCs, STs and OBCs would be given a place in the State Congress Working Committee.

There has been no change in the PCC ever since the Congress formed its government in the Hill State in November 2022.

“The entire state unit of the PCC, and district and block Congress committees have been dissolved with immediate effect. State Congress chief Pratibha Singh will remain unchanged,” Naresh Chauhan, media advisor to the Chief Minister, told PTI on Wednesday, November 6.

Ms. Singh, who took over as the State Congress chief in April 2022, has already become a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the party. She is the wife of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and mother of sitting Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh.

Earlier, an official communication from AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal said, “The Congress president has approved the proposal to dissolve the entire State unit of the PCC, district presidents and Block Congress Committees of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee, with immediate effect.”

Reacting to the development, Himachal BJP chief spokesperson Randhir Sharma maintained that dissolving the PCC proved the party was plagued by factionalism.

“The balloon of internal revolt has exploded and more troubles are in the offing for the party as Congress workers are expressing their annoyance publicly,” he said in a statement issued on Wednesday night.