Virbhadra revolt could hit Congress hard

With elections to the Himachal Assembly scheduled later this year, the ruling Congress party is in the throes of a crisis which could eventually contribute to loss of power for it. The party has indeed been hurling from one setback to another and this could jolt it severely. Typically, at a crucial stage, Virbhadra Singh, who has been chief minister six times and is by far the party’s tallest leader, has failed to get an audience with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Sonia will not take a decision without consulting her son and party vice-president Rahul and the scion is away to Norway. Virbhadra has a running feud with the party’s state chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and is seeking his replacement with Asha Kumari. At 83, Virbhadra is in no mood to compromise on his demand for a free hand in the impending elections and would rather not contest if his demand is rejected. As things stand, 27 of the party’s 36 legislators are backing him. If it comes to the crunch how many would stand by him is, however, a matter of speculation.

Sukhu, who is 52 had earlier described the strife within the Congress as a "generational fight" in the hill state. His appointment after the 2012 elections was bitterly opposed by Virbhadra Singh and his camp. Virbhadra has the example of Punjab, where Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had won a pitched battle against Partap Singh Bajwa, handpicked by Rahul Gandhi as state Congress chief. Bajwa stepped down after Amrinder threatened to quit the party if Bajwa was not removed. The high command gave in and later led the party to victory in the elections. Sonia and Rahul had kept away from campaigning in the State and it is an open secret that Amrinder had won despite Rahul Gandhi and not because of him.

In Himachal, Virbhadra had led the Congress to victory five years ago, wresting the state back from the BJP despite the latter’s aggressive campaign over the corruption cases that had piled up against him. .At that time too, Virbhadra had used pressure tactics to get the party to name him both state party chief and presumptive chief minister ahead of elections. Recently, Virbhadra’s detractors fired the first salvo when six legislators wrote to the party high command to replace Virbhadra over mishandling of a school girl’s rape and murder case. Virbhadra has also been under fire from the Opposition over the corruption cases against him and his alleged mafia link. As things stand, both Virbhadra and Sukhu are waiting for Rahul Gandhi to take a call after his return from abroad. If Rahul favours retaining Sukhu as State party chief, the revolt by Virbhadra and his supporters could well escalate and the party could slip deeper into quicksand. Rahul’s lack of tact and poor political sagacity leave little scope for optimism for the party.