Yog Raj Sharma
The North News
Shimla, November 6
The Congress high command has summoned six key leaders from Himachal Pradesh to New Delhi as the party moves toward appointing a new state president after more than a year without a full organisational structure. According to party sources, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi will hold one-to-one meetings with the contenders at 9:30 am on Friday. Feedback from these discussions will shape the final decision, with the new state chief likely to be announced within a week.
The six leaders called to Delhi include Education Minister Rohit Thakur, Deputy Speaker Vinay Kumar, MLA Kuldeep Singh Rathore (Theog), MLA Ashish Butail (Palampur), MLA Vinod Sultanpuri (Kasauli) and MLA Suresh Kumar (Bhoranj).
Party insiders said the Congress is also considering appointing three to four working presidents alongside the new state chief to maintain regional and factional balance. The Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) has been functioning without an active executive body for the past year. The organisational unit was dissolved a year ago, except for its president Pratibha Singh, whose three-year term officially ended in April 2025.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu recently said that the new state president would be finalised within five to ten days, signalling the leadership’s intent to strengthen the party’s grassroots structure ahead of upcoming elections. Once the new president is appointed, the state Congress is expected to undergo a complete organisational revamp to improve coordination between the government and the party machinery.
