Wait 14 months, then strike: Himachal Royals opens new front for Congress

Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu is a well-known critic of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

Shimla:

Virbhadra Singh, the tallest leader of Congress in Himachal Pradesh and six-time Chief Minister, breathed his last on July 8, 2021. But a year later, Congress contested the assembly elections not in the name of any living leader, but in name. Of its dead veteran. Of course, there were some mistakes. The state Congress was led by Virbhadra Singh’s wife Pratibha Singh and the party’s campaign committee was headed by grassroots leader and well-known critic of the late chief minister, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu.

However, the Congress leadership managed to present a united front and the party won 40 of the 68 assembly seats, ousting the incumbent BJP.

However, a bigger challenge awaited. Pratibha Singh was seen as the frontrunner for the top post, but the Congress decided to bet on Mr Sukhu. The mother-son duo of Pratibha Singh and Vikramaditya Singh reluctantly accepted defeat. Fourteen months later, as Mr Sukhu struggles to save his government following dramatic developments during the Rajya Sabha elections, the knives are out. The seeds of discontent sown a year ago have begun to bear fruit, with Vikramaditya Singh resigning as minister and accusing Mr Sukhu’s government of insulting his father even though the Congress had won the election in his name.

royal giants

A scion of the former royal family of Bushahr, Virbhadra Singh was fondly called Raja Saheb. An alumnus of the prestigious Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, and St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, he became a Lok Sabha MP for the first time in 1962. He was elected to the lower house of parliament four times. After two terms as a Union Minister, he became Chief Minister for the first time in 1983. During his long political career he held this position six times. In 2017, when BJP won the state elections and Jairam Thakur took over as the Chief Minister, he lost the post.

Mr Singh’s final years on the political scene coincided with Mr Sukhu’s tenure as state Congress chief and there was no love lost between them. At one point, Mr Singh even refused to share the stage with Mr Sukhu. The leadership managed a ceasefire but bitterness persisted.

grassroots leaders

Mr Sukhu’s political rise was in stark contrast to Mr Singh’s. Coming from an ordinary family, he started as an activist of NSUI, the student wing of the Congress. Before being elected to the Assembly for the first time in 2003, he served as a councilor in the Shimla Municipal Corporation. A four-time MLA, he took over as the state Congress chief in 2019, setting the stage for his rivalry with Virbhadra Singh. ,

Despite the towering stature of the six-time Chief Minister, Mr Sukhu had no words in criticizing the veteran. Indeed, in 2019, he had attacked Mr Singh for “blackmailing” the Congress before every election. He said, “Singh considers himself a Congressman in Himachal Pradesh. The truth is that times have changed. Congress is strong at the booth level and Singh is not necessary for Congress to win.”

Congress’s big choice

After the 2022 victory, Congress faces a tough choice for the chief ministerial post. It chose Mr Sukhu over Virbhadra Singh’s wife Pratibha or son Vikramaditya Singh. There were some reasons for this decision. BJP’s favorite line of attack on the grand old party is dynasty. In Mr Sukhu the Congress saw an ideal party worker who had risen from the grassroots level and had administrative experience. Congress might have thought that electing him would blunt the BJP’s charge. The Congress leader is also considered close to Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Moreover, choosing Mr Sukhu helped the Congress put the corruption charges against Virbhadra Singh behind bars and closed down another line of attack from the BJP.

Another important factor was that the Vibhadra Singh camp did not perform very well in the 2022 elections, depriving them of the political muscle needed to regain the chief minister’s post.

the balancing Act

Before Mr. Sukhu was declared the chief ministerial choice of the high command, Pratibha Singh was considered to be the frontrunner for the top post. When Congress decided otherwise, it tried to strike a balance to prevent rebellion. The post of State Congress President remained with Pratibha Singh and her son Vikramaditya was given the post of minister. “We accept the decision taken by the Congress high command,” he said after the big announcement. Mr Sukhu denied any discontent in the Congress ranks after his selection.

strike at a time

As the Congress was struggling to recover from the defeat by the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections, the royal family opened another front. At a press conference this morning, Vikramaditya Singh accused the Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu government of insulting his father and ignoring the voice of MLAs during its 14-month rule. Vikramaditya Singh, while resigning from the post of minister, said that the ball is in the court of the Congress high command. This came as six Congress MLAs cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections and the BJP claimed that the Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu government had lost the mandate to remain in power.

Congress’s Jairam Ramesh has said the leadership will not shy away from “difficult decisions”. “Individuals are not important, it is the mandate which we have to respect. All options are open and the party is supreme. Whatever necessary decision is taken, we will take it soon,” he said.