Congress dissolves entire party unit in Himachal Pradesh

The move follows the Congress failure to win any of the four parliamentary seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, despite being the ruling party in the State.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) president, Mallikarjun Kharge, announced on Wednesday (November 6, 2024) the dissolution with immediate effect of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee.

This follows the Congress failure to win any of the four parliamentary seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, despite being the ruling party in the State. In July, the AICC set up a two-member panel to study the party’s election debacle.

Folllow the Update: Himachal Congress chief denies factionalism in party

The electoral loss was seen as a setback to the Congress, which has been in power in Himachal since 2022, with the party losing all four seats to the BJP. The panel submitted a report after seeking feedback from party leaders and workers.

The party general secretary, K.C. Venugopal, said the Congress president has approved the proposal to dissolve the entire state unit.

Earlier this year, factionalism in the party’s Himachal Pradesh unit led to political turmoil after the defeat of Abhishek Manu Singhvi — the official Congress candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections — due to crossvoting by six MLAs of the ruling party.

The fault lines within the party were clearly visible, with State unit chief Pratibha Singh and Public Works Department Minister Vikramditya Singh blaming the Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu for the Rajya Sabha fiasco. He even resigned as a minister in the Sukhu government but withdrew the resignation after pressure from the high command.

Published - November 06, 2024 07:12 pm IST