Newly appointed experienced state in-charge of Congress, former Union minister, Sushil Shinde faces a tough challenge to bridge the gap in ruling Congress ranks in Himachal Pradesh ahead of assembly polls.

Shinde, who arrived in Shimla on Wednesday, on three-day visit to the state, has scheduled a meeting with Congress party office bearers on Thursday, followed by discussion with the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) to chalk out strategy.

According to sources, Shinde may have to confront bitterness brewing in the Congress ranks in the fifth year of rule along with the major issue of lack of co-ordination between government and party, to begin with.

He is coming here when the Congress government finds badly cornered in HP on ‘Gudia’ gangrape and murder case by public and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and simultaneously faces simmering opposition from within and from the Congress organisation on many issues, including party matters and ‘governance’.

While chief minister, Virbhadra Singh and Pradesh Congress Committee Chief, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu have reportedly remained at loggerheads all through the tenure, the rift has widened beyond repair, with polls around the corner.
Congress insiders said controversy over ‘Gudia’ case too has worsened the situation. Sukhu openly targeted the government by referring to ‘carelessness of the state Police’ in the investigation and justified the public outburst, and chief minister, who has been fighting corruption cases all alone, publically showed irritation over Congress party’s stance.

Party sources said the two leaders have been working cross purposes- with Sukhu   reportedly taking the support of Congress leaders (including all time rivals of Virbhadra Singh in cabinet and CLP) to build pressure against him in corridors of high command, and the CM using his energy and clout to see Sukhu ousted as party president in HP.
So far, none of them have succeeded in this tug of war, which has only divided the party cadres further.

More so, for the six time octogenarian CM has a hold on ground with mass appeal to back him, and the young party president has deep roots in the organisation to support him.

“There is no infighting. The party’s only agenda now is elections. We have already covered 5,000 villages and 1,100 Panchayats in the ongoing ‘Path Yatra’ and the Congress cadres are energised,” said HPCC chief, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who preferred to keep mum over CM’s remarks that party was not defending the government.

Sukhu, however, admitted that the ‘internal irritants’ would definitely come up in the meeting with Shinde.