The Message from Shimla
The one immediate lesson the Congress should learn from the Himachal Pradesh fiasco is that it needs a strong organizational and political troubleshooter. Earlier, this task was handled by the late Ahmed Patel, and Congress leaders recall a Rajya Sabha election not too long ago when at the first sign of trouble, he was there on ground to monitor the entire election process. This was during Partap Singh Bajwa’s election in 2016, where Bajwa was the Centre’s nominee, but did not enjoy the backing of the Captain Amarinder Singh faction (who was then in the Congress). At the time, and perhaps taking a lesson from the cross voting in Haryana that had seen the election of the media baron Subhas Chandra, who was elected with some cross voting by the Congress camp, Ahmed Patel left nothing to chance. In fact, while speaking on The Roundtable, Tehseen Poonawalla recalled how earlier crises had been averted by this kind of organizational intervention. For, as Dilip Cherian points out, the minute the BJP fielded a candidate without having the requisite numbers, the Congress should have been alerted and taken the requisite precautions. This could also be one reason why the Congress shifted Sonia Gandhi to a safe seat in Rajasthan, for initially the buzz was that the former Congress president would be contesting from Himachal.
Bolting the stable door
Was there a disagreement between the Rahul and Priyanka camps over the appointment of Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu as Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister? While Sukhu is Rahul’s nominee, there were other contenders in the fray, notably Pratibha Singh, who is former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s widow and state PCC chief, as well as the current Deputy Chief Minister, Mukesh Agnihotri. While Pratibha Singh’s motives have always been suspected by the Gandhis, for she has not hesitated to take them on when denied a party perk, the Priyanka Gandhi Vadra camp, especially Rajiv Shukla, the general secretary in charge of Himachal, was more aligned towards Agnihotri. Given the current flux within the state leadership, the differences between the two camps, as well as the fact that Sukhu does not enjoy Shukla’s support, are once again being played up. Will the Congress be able to bolt the stable door, or is it already too late?
Poll Dates Announcement
While the Congress is still grappling with the fallout of the Rajya Sabha election, the BJP has moved on and is focusing on candidate selection for the Lok Sabha elections. Also the Prime Minister is on an inauguration spree before the code of conduct sets in. Whispers in the corridors indicate that the election dates would be announced mid-March—some put 14 March as the date for the said announcement.