India News | Pratibha Singh Himachal Chief, Congress Contesting Elections Under Her Leadership: Sukhu

Shimla, Apr 8 (PTI) Pratibha Singh is the Congress' president in Himachal Pradesh and the party is contesting the Lok Sabha elections under her leadership, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Monday.

Singh, the Mandi MP, had been demanding that the party workers who worked to secure the Congress' victory in the 2022 assembly elections should be accommodated in the government.

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Claiming that the workers were demoralised, Singh had even refused to contest the Lok Sabha elections but later mellowed and said she would follow the high command's directions.

Sukhu told reporters in Kangra, "Pratibha Singh is our state chief and we are contesting the elections under her leadership. The Congress has worked for the welfare of the people of the state in the past 15 months and dealt with financial and political challenges."

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Asked about expelled MLA Sudhir Sharma's criminal defamation complaint against him, Sukhu said, "We have the facts that the rebel MLAs sold their soul."

Sharma, who was expelled from the Congress, is now the BJP candidate from Dharamshala seat in the assembly bypoll.

Sukhu further said, "The saleable legislators, including the kingpin from Kangra who might have taken more than Rs 15 crore, has left and no other MLA is for sale now."

"MLAs believing in the culture of 'devbhoomi' Himachal Pradesh and the Congress ideology are with us," he said.

Sukhu on Friday dubbed Sharma, one of the nine MLAs -- six Congress and three Independent -- who voted for the BJP's Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha elections as "sargana (kingpin)" of the rebels.

The Congress lawmakers were disqualified for defying a legislature party whip. All nine legislators later joined the BJP. The expelled lawmakers are contesting the assembly bypolls from their respective constituencies.

Sukhu also claimed that the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh is stable.

"The MLAs who were for sale have left and we have facts which will be brought to the people," the chief minister said.

Sukhu also claimed that the BJP is spreading propaganda on the Congress' assembly poll guarantees.

The guarantees are being fulfilled, he said and pointed to the restoration of the old pension scheme, forms being filled to give an honorarium of Rs 1,500 per month to women and Himachal Pradesh becoming the first state to give a minimum support price for milk.

Polling for the four parliamentary seats and byelections for six assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh will be held on June 1.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)