A day after unseating the BJP from power in Himachal Pradesh, Congress on Thursday witnessed intense lobbying for the post of chief minister with the choice narrowing down to Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and Mukesh Agnihotri even as division within the party that was kept under wraps during election season resurfaced.
Himachal Congress president and Mandi MP Pratibha Singh, who staked claim for the top post in the state invoking her late husband Virbhadra Singh’s legacy, appeared to have got edged out after the party’s central leadership showing little enthusiasm in assigning her leadership role in the state government.
Former state Congress president Sukhu seems to have an edge over Agnihotri, the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Assembly, as he is said to have the support of more MLAs.
Sources said the chief minister will be from elected MLAs only, virtually ruling out Pratibha. Along with Sukku and Agnihotri, Rajendra Rana is also in the race while the leadership is likely to give Vikramaditya Singh, the son of Virbhadra, an important portfolio in a bid to placate Pratibha.
The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) met in Shimla this evening and authorised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to name the legislature party leader, who will become the chief minister. Senior observers Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda, Congress Himachal in-charge Rajeev Shukla and senior state leaders and MLAs attended the meeting.
Ahead of the meeting, Sukhu said, "I am not a chief minister aspirant. I am just a Congress worker and whatever decision the high command would take would be accepted."
There was high drama in Shimla throughout the day, as the CLP meeting had to be rescheduled thrice while the Congress office witnessed sloganeering by supporters of Sukhu, Agnihotri and Pratibha. When the leaders reached for the CLP meeting too, supporters shouted slogans in support of their leaders.
Though she did not enjoy the support of central leadership when she entered the Chief Minister’s race, Pratibha made it clear that she was not willing to go without a fight and invoked the legacy of late Virbhadra, a towering Congress leader, reminding that the party has sought vote in his name this time.
However, sources said, the central leadership was not keen to appoint her as chief minister as they feared that they would not win the Lok Sabha bypoll from Mandi if she resigns as MP. Also, Sukhu and Agnihotri had been marshalling the party for some time and any decision to ignore their claims could have met with resistance.
Pratibha’s supporters were unhappy with the reports that their leader was not in the reckoning and even resorted to blocking the vehicles of Baghel, Hooda and Shukla when they headed to the Raj Bhavan to meet Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar. The delegation submitted a list of the party's winning MLAs to Governor and "sought time" to formally stake claim to form the government.