Why protecting Sukhu may land Congress in deeper trouble in Himachal

The tremulous armistice between Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and his intra-party detractors that the Congress leadership had brokered to save the party’s only government in the Hindi-speaking states hangs by a fine thread.

There is, as yet, no sign of the six-member committee that was to be set up by the Congress high command to ensure better coordination between the Sukhu government and the party organisation. Meanwhile, Sukhu, PCC chief Pratibha Singh, and the six Congress rebels, whose cross-voting for the BJP led to the shock defeat of party leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the February 27 Rajya Sabha polls, continue to trade acerbic charges.

Looking for shelter “elsewhere”

A gleeful BJP, which is hosting the six rebels — Sudhir Sharma, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chaitanya Sharma, Davinder Bhutto, and Ravi Thakur — at a five-star hotel in Haryana’s Panchkula, has kept on with its prophecies of the imminent collapse of the Sukhu government. The rebels, who have been disqualified as MLAs for violating the 10th Schedule (anti-defection law), have kept up the heat on Sukhu too, indicating their willingness to join the BJP while simultaneously claiming that their grievance is “not against the Congress party but against Sukhu”.

Rana told The Federal that he and the other rebels “have not left the Congress but it is clear that the Congress, at Sukhu’s behest, seems to have made up its mind to leave us.” Asked if the six rebels were heading to the BJP, Rana said, “For a politician, his political party is like his home, but if we are evicted from our home, we have to find shelter somewhere”.

The disqualified legislator from Sujanpur constituency also claimed that the Congress high command’s refusal to sack Sukhu would cost the party its government in Himachal as “over half a dozen other Congress MLAs are in touch with us... if the high command still backs Sukhu, the government will fall very soon”.

Crisis expected to deepen

Sources on either side of this widening intra-party divide told The Federal that chances of a rapprochement were now slim and that the crisis is expected to deepen in the coming days.

A Himachal Congress veteran and former MLA said, “We have messed up the situation completely. Once the observers spoke to the CM and all MLAs, matters should have improved and the coordination committee set up without losing any time. Instead, what we have is the CM and the PCC chief trying to undermine each other daily and rebels continuing with their outbursts. Rather than closing ranks and preparing for the Lok Sabha polls that lie ahead, we are running our own party to the ground.”

Lack of tact

Congress leaders, even those sympathetic towards Sukhu, concede off the record that the CM has shown an “unbelievable lack of tact” in handling the deadlock. In a bid to assert his position as the CM, Sukhu has repeatedly told the media that he enjoys “support of 80 per cent of the MLAs” and likened the rebel MLAs to “snakes” and “traitors who sold their conscience to the BJP”.

In his brinkmanship against PCC chief Pratibha Singh and her minister son, Vikramaditya Singh, Sukhu has also ended up undermining the legacy of his party’s tallest leader of Himachal — Pratibha’s late husband and former six-term CM, Virbhadra Singh. That Virbhadra and Sukhu shared a rocky relationship was always known but Congress insiders say they had expected the latter to “act with more maturity and discretion” upon becoming the CM when it came to matters relating to Virbhadra and his legacy, more so since it was Pratibha who Sukhu had elbowed out in the race to become CM.

Grievances of Pratibha and son

It was not surprising that while the Congress’s crisis managers were still grappling with the cross-voting episode, the first salvo at Sukhu came from Pratibha and Vikramaditya. While Vikramaditya resigned as minister in the Sukhu Cabinet — the resignation was not accepted and he continues to be a minister for now — and accused the CM of not allotting land for installing a statue of Virbhadra, Pratibha went to town claiming she had been cautioning the central leadership of growing discontent against the CM for the past year but to no avail.

Congress sources told The Federal that during their interaction with DK Shivakumar and Bhupinder Hooda, two of the three observers dispatched by party president Mallikarjun Kharge to Shimla after the Rajya Sabha poll debacle, the mother-son duo minced no words.

What lies beneath?

Pratibha is learnt to have informed the observers that Sukhu was “deliberately sidelining all party workers loyal to Holly Lodge (the Shimla residence of Virbhadra Singh)”. Vikramaditya, sources said, pointedly told the observers that he “cannot work with Sukhu” in the Cabinet, alleging that the CM was dismissive of any suggestion or request made by him and deliberately stalled any proposal that came from him or his mother, including those regarding appointments of Virbhadra camp followers in boards and committees.

Pratibha and Vikramaditya are learnt to have also cited the example of how Sukhu had “gone back on his promise” to induct Sudhir Sharma and Rajinder Rana — two of the six rebel Congress leaders — into his Cabinet and claimed that the CM’s failure to do so eventually led to the cross-voting disaster.

Pratibha’s praise for BJP

It was to address such concerns that the proposal to set up a coordination committee, with the CM, Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri, the PCC chief, and three other party leaders as members, was mooted by the observers. What stunned the Congress’s central leaders though was how, within a day of the observers giving this assurance, Pratibha and Sukhu were back to trading attacks.

Pratibha’s critique of Sukhu was also peppered with modest praise for the BJP, which she said was “better prepared” and “organisationally stronger” than the Congress for the upcoming Lok Sabha battle. Notably, as rumours swelled over the possibility of her and Vikramaditya’s switch to the BJP, Pratibha refused to quash them strongly and merely said she hadn’t given this a thought but “can’t say what may happen in the future”.

No sign of reconciliation

Vikramaditya, too, set tongues wagging when he left a Cabinet meeting being chaired by the CM midway and made way for Panchkula on Friday (March 1) evening. The next day, Vikramaditya held discussions with the six rebels in Panchkula while Pratibha said that her son will also be visiting Delhi to seek a meeting with the Congress high command.

Sukhu’s claim that Vikramaditya had informed him about meeting the rebels was initially seen as an effort towards reconciliation. By Saturday evening, though, the CM gave sound bites and interviews to some media platforms, including BBC Hindi, which indicated that the warring sides had only decided to dig in their heels deeper.

Sukhu’s refusal to acknowledge that the Congress’s 2022 Assembly poll victory in Himachal was propelled by a sympathy vote following the demise of Virbhadra, and his assertion that Vikramaditya had “never moved any formal request for allotting land for a Virbhadra statue”, has “effectively slammed the doors shut on any peace deal between the two sides”, said sources.

No heed to words of caution

To make matters worse, the CM not only hinted that Pratibha could not become CM as she did not enjoy majority support among Congress MLAs, but even claimed that “even those once loyal to Virbhadra are standing with me today”.

A senior Congress MLA close to the Bushahr royals told The Federal, “the way Sukhu is attacking Virbhadra Singh and his legacy rules out any truce with Pratibha and Vikramaditya... What he doesn’t understand is that by making such comments, he will lose support of those MLAs, party workers and ordinary citizens who continue to hold high regard for Virbhadra Singh”.

Three ministers had “politely cautioned” Sukhu against undermining Virbhadra’s legacy but were brusquely dismissed by the CM, sources said, adding that at least two of these ministers had, over the weekend, communicated to the rebels in Panchkula that they were “unhappy with how Sukhu was dealing with the situation”.

Carrot and stick

It is learnt that in a bid to win over some of the MLAs from the Pratibha camp, Sukhu plans to expedite appointments to various boards, commissions, and government-constituted panels while also dangling the carrot of an imminent Cabinet reshuffle in which some of these leaders may be accommodated.

Additionally, sources said the CM is also exploring “pressure tactics” to “crack down” on the disqualified MLAs. Sources said the local administration in the constituencies of the rebels has been “unofficially instructed” to remove hoardings or banners and even demolish any structures built by these six leaders “in violation of any rule”.

Shaky ground

Congress leaders claim none of this would help in ensuring the government’s longevity if “even two or three more MLAs decide to switch to the rebel camp or to the BJP”.

“The strength of the Vidhan Sabha is now 62 MLAs, and with 34 MLAs on our side, we have a majority of only two MLAs; this can change quickly if we have more defections and the rebels get a favourable verdict from the courts quashing their disqualification. Even if their disqualification is held valid, there will be bypolls, of which we can’t predict the outcome,” said a Himachal Congress office bearer.

The Congress leadership is also anxiously awaiting the next political salvo by Pratibha and Vikramaditya as rumours gather steam regarding the duo either defecting to the BJP or breaking away from the Congress to form their own outfit in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls — either of which will not just imperil the Sukhu government’s stability but also the party’s already shaky victory prospects in the four Lok Sabha seats of the state.