High command to decide: Himachal Cong passes resolution on next CM

After much hullabaloo on Friday, the Himachal Pradesh Congress toed the line of the party's high command. The party president Mallikarjun Kharge would be deciding who will be appointed for the top job in the state.

Shimla:Newly elected Congress MLAs from Himachal Pradesh met on Friday and unanimously passed a resolution authorizing the party president to pick the next chief minister of the state. This took place after the Congress Legislature Party meeting got off to a tumultuous start on Friday, as protesters gathered outside the Oberoi Cecil hotel in Shimla and raised slogans demanding Pratibha Singh, Mandi MP, and wife of former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh Thakur, be made the next CM of the hill state.

Apart from Singh, names of other hopefuls for the Chief Ministerial post in recent days have included that of former party chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and outgoing CLP leader Mukesh Agnihotri. Speaking to the news agency ANI, Sukhwinder Singh said he was 'not a CM candidate.' "I am not a CM candidate ... the party High Command's decision will be final," he said.

Pratibha Singh's supporters, meanwhile, blocked the path of several party leaders, including Bhupesh Baghel, the Congress' observer for Himachal Pradesh and Himachal Congress state in-charge Rajeev Shukla. Several supporters raised slogans supporting 'Rani Sahiba', as she is popularly known in the state, asserting the grand old party had won elections in the state because of her. "Congress has won the elections under her leadership, and she should get due credit," one of the supporters said.

Slogans of "Desh ka neta kaisa ho, Rani Sahiba jaisa ho (the country needs a leader like Rani Sahiba) filled the air when Rajeev Shukla's car arrived at the venue. Shukla, after his recent statement about holding a meeting with elected MLAs, said "there will be discussion and due deliberation." Vikramaditya Singh, Shimla (Rural) MLA and son of former CM Virbhadra Singh, indicated that the decision largely depent on the MLAs. "The MLAs will take a call, and whatever they decide will be in favour of the state," he said, after coming out of the meeting venue.

Jwalamukhi MLA Sanjay Ratan, meanwhile, said there were no separate factions within the grand old party. "The CM will be decided by MLAs in the CLP meeting. Party High Command will take the final decision," he said. The Congress won 40 out of the total 68 seats in Himachal Pradesh in the recently concluded assembly elections in the hill state. The BJP, on the other hand, won 25 seats. A constant change in power has been the norm for the hill state for the last 37 years.