New Delhi: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who led the Congress’ campaign in Himachal Pradesh, got a leg up on Thursday along with AICC in charge of the hill state Rajeev Shukla. The Himachal Pradesh win has come as a positive development for Priyanka, who had led the party’s campaign in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls where the Congress could win only 2 out of the 403 seats.
During her campaign across the hill state Priyanka addressed several rallies at key locations and even did a roadshow in capital Shimla on the last day of the campaigning Nov 10 to push the party’s prospects.
During her entire campaign, Priyanka played up the legacy of her grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi, who had formed Himachal Pradesh in 1971 and then injected heavy doses of development in the area.
Priyanka charged the BJP of having neglected the hill state for the past five years and urged the voters to bring back the Congress to take the hill state forward. Now, she faces the challenge of installing a suitable chief minister to deliver on the various promises that seemingly tilted the balance in the Congress’ favour.
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The Himachal results are also significant for Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Shukla, who had little organizational experience when he was given charge of the hill state last year but is getting to share the credit for the spectacular win, which has come as a big relief for the party managers.
According to sources, the Congress is moving its newly elected MLAs to Chandigarh where a CLP meeting is likely to be held on Dec 9 to elect the chief minister. Shukla along with Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and Haryana CLP leader Bhupinder Hooda will supervise the CLP meeting, said the sources.
Before leaving for Shimla, Shukla briefed Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge about the situation and the likely course of action in selecting the new CM. Over the past weeks, several claimants to the CM’s post had lobbied with the AICC in Delhi.
Party insiders said as the hill state has a tradition of having a Thakur or Rajput as the chief minister, both state unit chief Pratibha Singh and former state unit chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu are the front runners.
Also read: Himachal bagged, Congress moves in to secure MLAs; may shift them to Chhattisgarh
The two other strong claimants to the chief ministerial chair from the Thakur community, former six-term MLA Asha Kumari and senior leader Kaul Singh Thakur lost the polls.
Former CLP leader Mukesh Agnihotri, who won from Haroli, is also in the race if the choice shifts to a Brahmin candidate, said the sources. The party insiders said that as Pratibha Singh is a Lok Sabha member, Sukhwinder Sukhu may get a chance to head the Congress government in the state.
However, they averred that it may not be easy to convince Pratibha Singh, the wife of former 9 term MLA and six-term chief minister late Virbahdra Singh to give up her claim for the top executive post as the Congress highlighted the legacy of the former CM during the campaign.
