Amid Himachal political crisis, Congress forms six-member committee for coordination between party, Sukhu govt
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TNR Desk
In the wake of recent political turmoil in Himachal Pradesh, the Congress has taken measures to bolster coordination between its ranks. The grand old party announced the formation of a six-member coordination committee aimed at enhancing communication between the government and the organisation in the state.
According to an official statement released by the Congress, the coordination committee comprises Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, state party president Pratibha Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, Health Minister Dhaniram Shandil and former state ministers Kaul Singh Thakur and Ram Lal Thakur.
“The Congress president has approved the proposal to constitute a coordination committee as follows for better coordination between the government and the organisation in Himachal Pradesh with immediate effect,” the statement affirmed.
The formation of the committee comes amidst escalating tensions within the Congress following the rebellion by six Congress MLAs — Rajendra Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Ravi Thakur, Davinder Bhutto and Chaitanya Sharma — who were subsequently disqualified.
On Saturday, 11 Himachal MLAs, comprising the six Congress rebels, three independent legislators and two from the BJP, arrived at Rishikesh’s Taj Hotel in Uttarakhand under heavy security cover.
Chief Minister Sukhu, addressing reporters in Palampur, condemned the alleged attempts to lure MLAs away, emphasising that such actions undermined democratic principles. Sukhu also highlighted the purported pressure exerted on the rebel MLAs by their family members to return.
The ongoing crisis in Himachal stems from the disqualification of the six Congress MLAs by the state Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania. The disqualification was attributed to their cross-voting in last month’s Rajya Sabha polls, where they supported BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan against party directives.
