New Delhi, Dec 9, 2022: After winning Himachal Pradesh, the Congress has called a meeting of its MLAs today to combat its next challenge – deciding on a Chief Minister. The Congress has at least four candidates to choose from.
The frontrunner is Congress’s Himachal Pradesh chief Pratibha Singh. Pratibha Singh is a Lok Sabha MP from Mandi and belongs to a former royal family. She did not contest the election but effectively led the Congress campaign. She also claims the support of Congress MLAs who were loyal to her husband Virbhadra Singh, who spearheaded the party for over three decades in Himachal Pradesh.
Her son Vikramaditya Singh, who contested the election and won from Shimla rural, told a news channel, “As a son, I want Pratibha ji to get a big responsibility. Besides being a son, I am also a responsible leader of the party. We will respect whatever the party decides. I am sure the party will take into account what the people want.”
There are three other contenders other than Pratibha Singh – former state chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Mukesh Agnihotri, the leader of the Congress legislature party in the outgoing assembly, and Harshwardhan Chauhan – which is why the party feared BJP’s “Operation Lotus”, code for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party getting MLAs to switch loyalties to topple opposition governments.
