CM adamant, ball in Rahul’s court

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 25

Himachal Congress continues to face a distressing status quo with Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh adamant with respect to the demand for the replacement of state unit president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu.

Speaking to The Tribune in Delhi today, AICC general secretary in charge of Himachal Pradesh Sushil Kumar Shinde said “Everything will be sorted out.” Asked what the future holds for the state Congress in the wake of this bitter CM-Sukhu spat ahead of elections, Shinde said, “We have seen worse times in 1993 when I was in charge of Himachal Pradesh. We will sort everything out.”

The Congress is now keeping its fingers crossed hoping the Chief Minister will attend the AICC organised dalit conference in Kumarhatti on September 28.

“The Chief Minister will come for the conference. It is an AICC event,” Shinde said today. All eyes are now on September 28 to see whether the CM comes to Kumarhatti where Sukhu will also be present. So far Virbhadra Singh has been skipping all party events where Sukhu is present, including the events which Sushil Kumar Shinde has attended.

With the CM’s position being as hard as it is, the ball is in the court of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi who is expected to meet Virbhadra Singh after returning from his Gujarat tour.

The Chief Minister, who was earlier unable to attend a meeting on Himachal affairs between Gandhi, Shinde, AICC secretary Ranjeet Ranjan and Sukhu, is likely to come to Delhi after September 28 to meet with Central leaders and sort things out.

Congress legislators in Himachal Pradesh are waiting to hear about the fate of the Chief Minister, who has said he will sit at home the moment Model Code of Conduct is imposed and will not campaign unless Sukhu is replaced.

“The BJP is running an aggressive campaign in the state. One union minister is in Himachal every day these days. BJP chief Amit Shah has already visited and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming on October 3. The Congress, on the other hand, does not have any election committee or publicity or campaign committee. We are in the race but the voters want to know who the leader is and what is the CM’s fate,” a senior MLA said today.

Within the AICC also, there is growing understanding that Virbhadra Singh will have to be placated. The party is feeling the heat considering the shortage of time at hand ahead of state elections. “There is such little time left that replacement of state chief has become unfeasible. It’s equally true that we have no leadership alternative other than the Chief Minister. Something will have to be done soon,” said a Congress source.