Himachal Congress MLAs to hold crucial strategy meeting in Shimla today amid National Herald row

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh unit of the Congress is set to hold a high-level strategy meeting on Tuesday (April 22, 2025) at 3 pm at the party headquarters, Rajiv Bhawan, in Shimla.

The meeting, convened under the directives of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), comes in the wake of major decisions taken at the recently concluded national convention in Ahmedabad.

Briefing legislators on Ahmedabad convention decisions

The primary agenda of the meeting includes briefing party leaders on key resolutions from the national convention, while also preparing a comprehensive counter-strategy to tackle the escalating political storm surrounding the National Herald case.

The controversy, which has intensified after the filing of a chargesheet against senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, has triggered a series of attacks from the opposition.

In Himachal Pradesh, the matter has taken on a sharper turn due to revelations that the state government spent ₹2.34 crore in advertisements for the National Herald over the past two and a half years — despite the newspaper not being circulated in the state.

Opposition leaders have seized on the issue, accusing the Congress government of misusing public funds by allocating large sums to a publication that is effectively inactive in the region.

Besides MLAs, other Congress leaders invited

With the controversy gaining traction, today’s meeting will focus on formulating a cohesive response to opposition criticism and clarifying the party’s stance.

Invitations for the meeting have been extended to all Congress MLAs, 2022 Assembly election candidates who were not elected, chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of various government boards and corporations, and presidents of all frontal organisations of the party.

State Congress president Pratibha Singh has issued formal notices mandating attendance, while Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshvardhan Chauhan has sent out separate invitations to the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, as well as other key party leaders.

TNR News Network