Congress factions cheer for their leaders at Shimla meeting; Sukhu intervenes

Shimla, Aug 22 (PTI) Factionalism in the Congress came to fore in a party meeting Friday, when supporters of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh raised slogans in their support.

The sloganeering continued for about 10 minutes in the presence of Member of Parliament and In-charge of Himachal Pradesh unit, Rajni Patil, despite the chief minister asking his supporters to calm down.

The rift was witnessed at the meeting held at the party headquarters to muster support for the 'Vote Chor, Kursi Chod' campaign, which is part of the Congress nationwide protest against alleged electoral malpractices by the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Patil, who chaired the meeting, said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has produced evidence of 5,000 voters registered in one building and 1,500 votes in houses with number zero.

While the meeting went underway, traffic on Circular Road (Cart Road), the lifeline of Shimla, came to a halt, as a large number of Congress workers descended at party headquarters, Rajiv Bhawan, located near the lift.

Long queues of vehicles were seen on both sides of the road and traffic was halted for about two kilometers from the Lift to Toland.

VIP vehicles parked in no-parking zones on the main road further aggravated the situation.

"Political parties lodge protests for the common man putting commoners in trouble, this attitude is not right, " said a mother of a class 4 student who was late to pick her kid up from the school.

"Police do not allow us to park vehicles on the road even for five minutes, but VVIP and leaders have a free run to do anything. This VIP culture should go," said another commuter, Aman.

Earlier, during the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party, convened to chalk out strategy for the campaign, demands for reconstitution of the organisation in the state were raised.

On November 6 last year, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge dissolved the Pradesh Congress Committee in Himachal Pradesh, along with the district and block units.

All the same, Pratibha Singh, the state Congress chief stayed in her post. PTI BPL VN VN