Himachal Cong. may soon get new chief; Rathore’s name making the rounds

Almost over a year after the All India Congress Committee (AICC) dissolved its Himachal Pradesh unit, the party’s revamp appears to be on the cards and the State unit is expected to get a new president “soon”.

Last week, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal met six party leaders from Himachal in New Delhi to deliberate on the name of a new president and the formation of the organisational setup.

According to party sources, the leaders who are president probables, include AICC spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Rathore, who is currently MLA from Theog and a former president of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC). Rohit Thakur, State Education Minister, Vinay Kumar, Deputy Speaker, Ashish Butel MLA from Palampur, Vinod Sultanpuri, MLA from Kasauli and Suresh Kumar, MLA from Bhoranj.

“The final meeting on reconstituting the State unit was held last week. Six leaders from the State had met the Central leadership. Let’s wait and watch. I am hopeful they [Central leadership] will declare it [president’s name] soon,” Rajni Patil, Congress Rajya Sabha MP and party’s in-charge of Himachal Pradesh told The Hindu.

A party insider said that during the meeting, leaders were asked to share their experiences and articulate their vision for the organisation with an aim to chalk out a strategy to capture power in the Assembly election.

Speculations rife

On November 11, Himachal’s Rural Development Minister Anirudh Singh, while addressing a gathering in Theog said, “Mr. Rathore has long served you [people] in the past and will continue to do so in the future also. He has been the president before and I think he will be the next president too.” The remark has only fuelled the speculation of Mr. Rathore becoming the next HPCC president.

Last year in November, AICC dissolved the HPCC along with the district and block units. The party’s State president, Pratibha Singh, wife of former Chief Minister late Virbhadra Singh, though was asked to continue in the post. Ms. Singh had taken over the party reins in 2022 from Mr. Rathore.