Five months on, Congress fails to form party committees in Himachal; new in-charge doesn’t keep 15-day promise

Nearly five months after the Congress high command disbanded the state executive of its Himachal Pradesh unit, the party continues to struggle with the formation of a new team, leaving the party organisation’s reins solely in the hands of state president Pratibha Singh.

Despite promises of swift action, no concrete steps have been taken to restructure the party’s state-level leadership.
In November 2024, Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge had dissolved the state, district and block-level executive bodies in Himachal Pradesh.

Rajni Patil gathered feedback over a month ago

Following this, Rajni Patil was appointed as the new state in-charge for the party. During her visit to Himachal on February 28, she met with key figures including Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Pratibha Singh, ministers, former MLAs and party workers, assuring that a new executive body would be formed within 15 days.

However, despite the passing of over a month, the much-anticipated restructuring remains incomplete.
The appointment of Rajni Patil was expected to bring fresh momentum to the party. However, her promises of a new executive body have yet to materialise.

Despite taking feedback from local leaders and party members, the executive’s formation remains delayed. Patil had assured that the new team would be announced within two weeks, but more than a month later, the situation remains unresolved.

CM Sukhu again meets Rajni Patil in Delhi

On Wednesday, CM Sukhu again had a meeting with Rajni Patil, further intensifying the speculation surrounding the party’s internal delays.

However, with Sukhu now on a trip to Kerala, the formation of the new executive looks unlikely this week. Sukhu is expected to return to Shimla by April 5, but the final announcement will likely be postponed until then.

Sunil Chadha