NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH : Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday dissolved the entire Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) unit in Himachal Pradesh along with the district and block units.
“Congress president has approved the proposal to dissolve the entire state unit of the PCC, district presidents and block Congress committees of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee, with immediate effect,” said an official communication from AICC general secretary KC Venugopal.
The AICC statement does not mention whether Himachal Pradesh congress chief Pratibha Singh, who is wife of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh and mother of state PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh, will continue as the state party chief. She was appointed as state Congress chief in 2022. She has already become a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the party.
A shake-up of the state unit was much anticipated ever since it was hit by factionalism during the Rajya Sabha election in February, when ruling Congress nominee Abhishek Manu Singhvi lost the election to BJP’s Harsh Mahajan after some Congress MLAs defected and cross-voted in his favour.
The contest for the lone Rajya Sabha seat in the state also brought out the fissures in the party when at least six Congress MLAs crossed sides and voted in favour of the BJP. Subsequent developments have plunged the Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh into a political crisis. However, the leadership’s timely intervention saved the grand old party from losing its sole state in the northern belt to the BJP. In August this year, Singhvi was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Telangana in a bypoll.
There has been no change in the PCC ever since the Congress formed its government in the hill state.
“The dissolving of the state unit is part of a planned revamp as many state cabinet ministers and chief parliamentary secretaries are also office-bearers in the state party unit and have dual responsibilities,” a source close to Pratibha Singh said.