Himachal Royals have opened a new front for Congress with a strike after a 14-month wait

The Himachal Royals have opened a new front for Congress after a 14-month wait, culminating in a strike

Sukhvinder Sukhu is currently battling to preserve his administration following intense events that unfolded during a Rajya Sabha election, with opposition forces becoming increasingly aggressive.

On July 8, 2021, Virbhadra Singh, the prominent leader of the Congress party in Himachal Pradesh and a six-time Chief Minister, passed away. However, even after a year, the deceased leader continued to be the prominent figure representing the Congress in the state election. Naturally, there were divisions within the party. Pratibha Singh, Virbhadra Singh’s wife, took charge of the Congress in Himachal Pradesh, while Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, a grassroots-level leader and a well-known critic of the late Chief Minister, led the party’s campaign committee.

However, the Congress leadership successfully presented a unified front and secured victory in 40 out of the 68 Assembly seats, thereby removing the incumbent BJP from power.

Nonetheless, a more significant challenge lay ahead. Pratibha Singh was initially considered a strong contender for the top position, but the Congress made the decision to place their bet on Mr. Sukhu instead. This decision resulted in defeat for the mother-son duo of Pratibha Singh and Vikramaditya Singh. Fast forward fourteen months, and Mr. Sukhu finds himself fighting to maintain his government’s stability following dramatic events during a Rajya Sabha election. As a result, tensions have resurfaced, with Vikramaditya Singh resigning as a minister and accusing Mr. Sukhu of disrespecting his late father, despite the Congress winning the elections under his father’s name.

Virbhadra Singh, a member of the former royal family of Bushahr, was affectionately known as “Raja Sahib”. He attended the prestigious Bishop Cotton School in Shimla and St Stephen’s College in Delhi. In 1962, he was elected as a Lok Sabha MP for the first time and went on to win four more terms in the Lower House of Parliament. After serving as a central minister twice, he assumed the role of Chief Minister for the first time in 1983. Throughout his extensive political career, he held the position of Chief Minister six times. However, in 2017, he lost the post to Jairam Thakur of the BJP, who emerged victorious in the state elections.

During Mr Singh’s final years in politics, Mr Sukhu served as the state Congress chief, and their relationship was strained. In fact, there was such animosity between them that Mr Singh refused to share the stage with Mr Sukhu at one point. Although the leadership was able to broker a truce, the bitterness between them persisted.