NEW DELHI: Keen to give a tough time to the BJP governments in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has begun scouting for faces who will lead the party in the respective state Assemblies.
On Friday, he named the teams of central observers who will meet party lawmakers in the two states and decide on who should be named as the respective Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader. Apart from AICC in-charge of Gujarat Ashok Gehlot, Rahul has named his associate Jitendra Singh as observer for the western state, while Himachal Pradesh in-charge Sushil Kumar Shinde and Bala Saheb Thorat will be observers in the hill state.
According to party sources, the meeting to elect new CLPs are likely to take place on January 2 or 3, after the new year celebrations are over. Rahul has met the newly-elected lawmakers in both states. “The CLP leader will be elected as per the wishes of the party MLAs,” Gehlot told The New Indian Express.
An aggressive campaign by the Congress in Gujarat increased the party’s tally from 61 lawmakers in 2012 to 77 against 99 of the BJP in a House of 182. Rahul wants this aggression to continue in the Assembly. Months before the polls, the party had named veteran Mohansinh Rathwa as Leader of Opposition after Shankarsinh Vaghela left the Congress.
Besides Rathwa, a tribal leader, the other probables are Paresh Dhanani, Kunwarji Bawalia and Ashwin Kotwal, said party sources.
In Himachal Pradesh, the obvious choice for Leader of Opposition would be former CM Virbhadra Singh but his age (83) and ill health may pose a challenge. Given that CM Jai Ram Thakur comes from the Rajput community, which accounts for 37.5 per cent voters, the choice may boil down to veterans Sujan Singh Pathania and Asha Kumari. The Congress tally in the Himachal Pradesh A ssembly dropped from 36 in 2012 to 21 in a House of 68.
Congress MLA slaps woman constable, booked
Punjab Congress’ in-charge and MLA from Dalhousie Asha Kumari has been booked by police for slapping a woman constable on Friday during Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s Shimla visit. The constable slapped Kumari back.
Rahul said, “I’m not happy. No one has a right to raise their hand against someone, at least not the Congress culture.” After the dressing down, Kumari issued an apology but accused the constable of abusing and pushing her.