"No Fear Of BJP's 'Operation Lotus', If...": Congress On Himachal Results
NDTV
On who will be chief minister amid infighting, Congress's Rajeev Shukla took familiar party line: "High command will decide after discussion with MLAs"
On its way to victory in Himachal, the Congress is now taking cautious steps to ensure that its flock stays together. Party observer Rajeev Shukla told reporters that MLAs may be moved to Chandigarh, 90 km away, "for convenience", and said BJP's poaching attempts will not succeed if the Congress crosses 40, five above the majority mark in the 68-member assembly.
On who will be chief minister, Mr Shukla took the familiar Congress line: "The high command will decide after discussion with MLAs."
There are three clear contenders — state unit chief Pratibha Singh, current Leader of Opposition Sukhvinder Sukhu, and Mukesh Agnihotri — which is why the party feared BJP's "Operation Lotus", code for PM Narendra Modi's party getting MLAs to switch loyalties to topple Opposition parties' governments. The Congress suffered this in Madhya Pradesh not long ago.
Sources said MLAs may be taken to Rajasthan or Chhattisgarh, the only two states where the Congress has chief ministers, after a pitstop in Chandigarh, if the margin remains slender.
