Congress President, Mallikarjun Kharge today approved the Coordination committee in Himachal Pradesh for better coordination between the Congress government and the organisation in Himachal Pradesh following the political crisis after cross-voting by six Congress MLAs in the Rajya Sabha poll on February 27, who were disqualified from state Assembly later.
The six-membered Coordination Committee comprises Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, State Party President Pratibha Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, Health Minister Dhani Ram Shandil and two senior former ministers, Kaul Singh Thakur and Ram Lal Thakur, according to a release by AICC general secretary, KC Venugopal.
The Committee was formed after the party observers, who came to Himachal Pradesh amid a crisis for peace talks after the rebellion, submitted a report to the Congress President on the issue.
It is learnt that the report has not only pointed to gaps in the functioning of the chief minister, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu but has also held Party President Pratibha Singh responsible for not controlling the rebellion ahead of Lok Sabha polls.
Congress sources said while Pratibha Singh had recently alleged that such a crisis could have been avoided had the Chief Minister listened to her requests to accommodate party men in government over 14 months of rule, her utterances were not liked by the party high command as she even targeted party high command for not resolving the grievances on time.
Her son, PWD minister Vikramaditya Singh's resignation from the cabinet immediately after the rebellion spoiled his impression, although he retracted later.
Meanwhile, as per reports, the six disqualified MLAs and three Independent MLAs, who supported and voted for the BJP nominee in the Rajya Sabha poll, have reached Uttarakhand under strict vigil by the BJP, which is eyeing the fall of the Congress government in case the rebels get relief from the Supreme Court.