Congress leaders throw weight behind Sukhu
SHIMLA : A day after facing criticism by sitting legislators, former Himachal Congress Committee Chief (HPCC) chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu on Tuesday managed to garner support of senior leaders, including sitting as well as ex-legislators and four district presidents.
In a joint statement issued on Tuesday, veteran leaders, including Vidya Stokes, Viplove Thakur, Kaul Singh and Chaudhary Chander Kumar praised Sukhu for leading the party for six years.
“Sukhu has done a lot to strengthen the party at ground level. He gave due respect to senior leaders and responsibility to the young blood,” the party leaders said.they mentioned the former chief was not ousted but had offered to step down four months ago.“change in leadership is just a process which was followed,” the statement read.
They also urged the party leaders to show constraint while issuing statements in the media.
“Sukhu has served the party with full dedication and had rebuild the organisation in the state,” they said. Other signatories of the statement were sitting legislators Ram Lal Thakur, Harshvardhan Chauhan, Anirudh Singh, Lakhvinder Rana, Sunder Thakur, Satpal Raizada and former MLAS Rajesh Dharmani, Rakesh Kalia, Sohan Lal, Ajay Mahajan, Kishori Lal, Ravi Thakur and Kuldip Singh Pathania.
Amidst the bitter spat, party leaders has stepped up efforts to placate warring factions within the party.
Acrimony between the two leaders intensified after All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Rahul Gandhi replaced former state party chief Sukhu and handed over the reins to Kuldeep Singh Rathore. While Virbhadra Singh fired a salvo against Sukhu by terming the former party chief’s tenure as “worst” for the party, Sukhu , in a sharp reaction, said the octogenarian leader has always put himself above the party and cannot tolerate leaders who work for its welfare. Meanwhile, Rathore who met both the Sukhu and Singh on Tuesday said, “I have spoken to both the leaders. There is nothing wrong in the party.”
CONG HIGH COMMAND SEEKS REPORT
Party-incharge for state affairs and Rajya Sabha member Rajni Patil said,“the Congress high command has taken note of the escalating war of words between the two leaders and has sought a report from the state unit. I will separately meet Virbhadra Singh and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.”