Cong caught in the crosshairs of competing loyalties

KS Tomar

AICC acting president Sonia Gandhi recently dissolved the Himachal unit of the party that is plagued by internal dissensions and infighting, primarily inherited from current incumbent Kuldeep Rathore’s predecessor. Infighting had rendered the state unit ineffective to take on the resurgent BJP.

Sonia Gandhi, however, retained Rathore, who was appointed the HPCC chief on January 10, 2019, replacing Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who led the organisation for about six years.

Faith in Rathore’s leadership

Political observers say that Rathore’s survival indicates that top party leaders have confidence in his leadership and thus gave him an opportunity to overhaul the organisation after holding extensive consultations with senior leaders.

It has been learnt that Rathore will prepare a list of the members of executive committees, PCC, DCCs and BCCs after talking to senior leaders and submit it to Rajni Patil, AICC general secretary and in-charge of party affairs in Himachal. Patil may also invite lists from prominent individuals, besides consult top leaders to prepare the final list for a discussion with Sonia Gandhi and her approval. Rathore has reportedly discussed the tentative list with KC Venugopal, AICC organising secretary, who will give his own feedback to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Claimants to top posts

According to political analysts, a complex and intriguing scenario is prevailing in the party organisation and the Congress Legislature Party. There are some claimants to the posts of CLP leader and HPCC president though the top leadership is likely to maintain status quo. Intense lobbying by senior leaders, including Sukhu, Asha Kumari, Ram Lal Thakur, and Harshvardhan Chauhan, is being witnessed. This development may be upsetting for Mukesh Agnihotri and Rathore. Ram Lal Thakur had revolted against former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, as he believed that he was ditched in the race for the CLP leader’s post though he regularly met with central party leaders to stake his claim. Virbhadra Singh had put his weight behind Agnihotri, who is considered one of his staunch loyalists. Agnihotri still enjoys the support of the former Chief Minister.

Sukhu’s decision reversed

The central party leadership has also quashed additional organisational districts created by Sukhu, which were opposed tooth and nail by some senior Congress leaders. It was an exercise in futility, a fact that the top party leadership has acknowledged and hence reversed the decision. Now, there will be 13 organisational districts instead of 17, including Shimla rural, and 74 blocks against 84. This may ensure smooth functioning of the party in future.

Virbhadra backed Rathore

Patil was reportedly instrumental in the appointment of Rathore before the Lok Sabha elections. Former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had vociferously favoured Sukhu’s removal before the 2017 Assembly elections but the top party leadership did not listen to him. The fiasco resembled the scenario in Haryana where Kumari Selja was appointed the PCC president and the responsibility of the Congress Legislature Party leader was given to Bhupinder Singh Hooda with less than a month to go for the Assembly elections. And this worked and the Congress gave a spirited fight to the BJP and won 31 seats. 

Political observers say that had Ashok Tanwar been dropped a year earlier, the Congress would have performed even better. The situation could be compared to Himachal also. Had the central leadership changed Sukhu two years before the Assembly elections, the situation might have been different. Sukhu, however, holds Virbahdra Singh’s ‘dictatorial’ style of functioning, lack of control over bureaucrats and resentment among people against the Congress government responsible for the poor show in the 2017 elections. It was one of the bitter fights witnessed between Virbhadra Singh and Sukhu with the latter refusing to be intimidated by the former Chief Minister. However, in the end, the party was the loser.

Intense infighting

Rathore’s organisational team was full of leaders who owed allegiance to different factions headed by Virbhadra Singh, former Union minister Anand Sharma, Kaul Singh, Sukhu, Vidya Stokes, and GS Bali. In the two Assembly byelections held recently, factionalism made it impossible for the party to take on the BJP, which has got a strong organisation and cadre strength in the entire state. 

The HPCC chief faced another challenge of motivating demoralised party cadres for the two byelctions, especially after successive defeats in the Assembly and parliamentary elections.

As expected, the Congress lost both byelctions due to intense infighting, lack of resources, and demoralised cadres. It faced the worst humiliation in Dharamsala where its candidate even lost the security deposit. The absence of top leaders was felt as the Congress candidates could not give even a dignified fight to the BJP candidates.

Gains in Haryana, Maharashtra

Political observers say that the below par performance of the BJP in Haryana and the loss of power to the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine in Maharashtra may have a positive effect on the morale of Congress workers in all states, including Himachal.

They feel that all eyes are now set on the final list of office-bearers of the state unit, which will prepare the party for the 2022 Assembly elections. Rathore will face a litmus test of his ability to unite the warring factions in the party to focus on issues such as unemployment, price rise, shaky law and order, atrocities on women, and non-fulfillment of tall promises made by the BJP in the last Assembly elections. The BJP will try to recapture power on the basis of the performance of the state government and the achievements of the Central government and issues such as abrogation of Article 370, and Ram temple may not be the rallying points.

(The writer is a political analyst. Views are personal)