Shimla, Sep 7: In the run-up to the Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh, the ruling Congress seems to be heading for more trouble from within the party set-up. HPCC president Sukhwinder Sukhu and some known detractors of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh have sought a meeting with AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
The group is also armed with a letter that emphatically opposes any change in the HPCC under ‘pressure’ from the CM. They have also contested the CM’s claim that he had support of 27 MLAs to press for Sukhu’s removal and giving him a free hand for the upcoming polls. This comes close on the heels of Virbhadra Singh setting a ‘deadline’ for the party to replace Sukhu.
Transport minister G S Bali, whose on-off relationship with the CM is well-known, has left for Delhi already while IPH Minister Vidya Stokes and Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur will be in Delhi Thursday.
Sources said all three had requested separate meetings with top party leaders to brief them on the state’s political situation and the ‘pressure tactics’ being used by the CM every time in the election period either to get PCC president shifted or get single-handed command for leading the party and also tickets.
Sources said AICC general secretary Sushil Kumar Shinde had also reached Delhi and had been keeping track of reports from the state and recent statements made by the CM. Senior Congress leader Sukh Ram also met Shinde in Delhi. During Shinde’s previous visit to Mandi, Virbhadra had targeted Ram in public.
Source Indian Express
