Congress’s Himachal crisis continues to simmer

Vikramaditya Singh rushing to New Delhi, seeking a dialogue with the party “high command”.

A day after the Congress’s central observers asserted that “all is well” within the party’s Himachal Pradesh unit, it appears the crisis could be far from over with Cabinet Minister Vikramaditya Singh on Friday rushing to New Delhi, seeking a dialogue with the party “high command”.

Mr. Vikramaditya’s move came even as Pratibha Singh, the State Congress chief and his mother, indicated that the Congress needs to get its act together ahead of the Lok Sabha election.

Mr. Vikramaditya also met the rebel Congress MLAs in Haryana on Monday. As per his official programme, he is slated to meet Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Saturday, as part of his two-day visit to Delhi.

The political turmoil in Himachal Pradesh started when six Congress legislators cross-voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections on February 27. They were later disqualified from the Assembly by Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania. The ground for disqualification, however, was their absence from the Assembly when the State Budget and the Finance Bill were being put to vote, defying a party whip to vote in favour of the government.

After the cross-voting, State Minister Vikramaditya announced — and then took back — his resignation, bringing the leadership tussle in the State Congress unit to the fore.

Sensing trouble, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge deputed former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and Karnataka Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar as the All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) observers, asking them to submit a report after talking to all party MLAs and getting to know their grievances.

On February 29, the AICC observers asserted that differences had been resolved and the government would complete its tenure in the State. However, a day after the assurances, a meeting of Mr. Vikramaditya with some of the disqualified Congress MLAs in Haryana’s Panchkula at a private hotel on Friday was being keenly watched. The presence of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s publicity advisor Tarun Bhandari with Mr. Vikramaditya too raised eyebrows. Mr. Vikramaditya later went to Delhi, where he was expected to meet the party’s central leadership.