Congress' Himachal drama: Amid supporters' show of strength, Pratibha Singh out of CM race

Shimla, Dec 10: Pratibha Singh, who was the front runner for the Chief Minister position in Himachal Pradesh, is reportedly out of the race. As result, former state party chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, CPL leader Mukesh Agnihotri and party leader Rajinder Rana are said to be the prime contenders for the top post.

The high command has taken the decision because it is not keen on going for by-poll as she is not an MLA. If Singh is made the CM, then she needs to resign from the Mandi constituency Lok Sabha constituency.

"The Chief Minister will be from among the MLAs only. The high command feels that two by-elections will have to be held if Pratibha Singh is made the Chief Minister. One of the Lok Sabha, the other of the Legislative Assembly," sources informed a news agency. It is now said that Pratibha Singh's son Vikramaditya Singh might be given a higher position in the cabinet to handle her.

"In such a situation, when Congress lost 9 out of 10 seats in Mandi, it would not be appropriate to go for the by-elections immediately. The atmosphere that has been created after winning the election somewhere can get spoiled. Her son Vikramaditya Singh may be given a higher position in the cabinet to handle Pratibha," the sources claimed.

The report, citing the same sources, stated that Singh does not have the backing of 25 MLAs and Sukhu has the support of many legislatures. Earlier on Friday, newly-elected Congress MLAs in Himachal Pradesh passed a resolution to leave the decision of choosing the Chief Minister to the party's high command and the final stamp on the name of the CM will be put in Delhi. The decision was announced at a press conference by AICC incharge of the state Rajiv Shukla here.

It has to be seen how the party workers will react as the supporters of the Congress State chief sloganeered in her support on Friday. "The media reports that there is a division inside the party are absolutely wrong," he added. Shukla said no name was suggested by any MLA. "All MLAs unanimously passed a resolution to leave the decision of choosing the CM to the party's high command. We will submit our report to the party high command tomorrow," he said.

The Congress on Thursday won 40 seats in the 68-member Assembly in the hill state which maintained its tradition of not voting any incumbent government to power since 1985.

In the 68-member state assembly, the BJP secured 25 seats with independents winning three seats. Notably, the AAP failed to open the account. As far as the vote sharing is concerned, the grand old party with 43.88 per cent is only marginally ahead of the saffron party which garnered 42.99 per cent vote share.