Amid speculations of changes in the top leadership of the Himachal Pradesh Congress ahead of the Assembly elections, which are only a few months away, experts and a section of party leaders believe that any change at the top at this stage could be detrimental to the party’s electoral prospects as was proved in Punjab.
In Himachal, the Congress had registered a big win in the Assembly and Parliamentary by-elections held in October 2021. The candidates of the ruling BJP lost the by-elections in all three Assembly seats — Fatehpur, Arki, and Jubbal-Kotkhai, and one parliamentary constituency — Mandi to the Congress. The by-polls were being seen as a ‘critical test’ and ‘referendum’ to ascertain the BJP government’s performance and its popularity, besides the Congress’s preparedness to pose a challenge to the ruling party ahead of the Assembly polls.
Virbhadra’s demise
In fact, the by-polls were crucial for the Congress as it was the first election in the State that the party fought after the demise of its stalwart Virbhadra Singh, and won all four seats. Singh, a five-time Chief Minister, had been one of the tallest leaders of the Congress in Himachal, surrounding whom the party revolved for decades.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi met party leaders from Himachal early last month to deliberate on the strategy for the Assembly elections. Since then, there had been speculations that the organisational changes in the State unit could be on the cards.
Party insiders told The Hindu that after the Congress suffered a crushing defeat in the Punjab Assembly election, a section of party members feel that any tinkering with the current top leadership of the State unit could have similar repercussions for the party in Himachal as happened in neighbouring Punjab.
“In Himachal Pradesh, the party recently won by-elections to one parliamentary seat and three Assembly seats by defeating the ruling BJP, which goes on to show how strong and united the party is right now at the ground level. Also, the party had the Solan and Palampur Municipal Corporation polls, which goes to the credit of the party’s State leadership. Any changes at the top in the State Congress committee would only have an adverse impact as the momentum and morale of the cadre could be lost,” said a senior party leader, requesting anonymity.
After the party’s drubbing in the Punjab polls, several leaders including former Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu had asserted that among other reasons for the poll debacle, removing Amarinder Singh as the Chief Minister eventually led to the complete collapse of the party and the government.
‘Looks united’
“With the Assembly elections in Himachal only a few months away it would not be wise for the Congress to change its president Kuldeep Singh Rathore at this stage as it could be detrimental to the party’s electoral prospects. Even though ‘groupisim’ within the party can’t be denied, the party looks united under Mr. Rathore, who has been successful in reviving the party since the poor performance of previous general elections. A similar experiment to what the party did in Punjab by changing its leaderships a few months ahead of the polls could prove damaging in the hill state of Himachal,” said professor Harish Thakur, chairperson at the Department of Political Science at Himachal Pradesh University.
