“Remain United,” Urges Sonia Gandhi, Discusses Roadmap Ahead Of Polls In Himachal With State Leaders

Shimla: Ahead of Assembly elections to be held next year in Himachal Pradesh, Sonia Gandhi chaired a meeting with the state leaders and urged the party leaders to remain united to address the challenges. She noted that due to disputes among local leaders, the party lost recent Assembly Elections, sources said.

At the meeting, she said that indiscipline should not be there and leaders should not air their differences in public.

At the meeting chaired by Sonia, in wake of the poll debacle in five states, they discussed the roadmap. The leaders cited the need for new faces to be brought into the party. They told the Congress president that the organization in the state requires a change by infusing new faces, with some even calling for a change of guard in Himachal Pradesh.

Sonia has not stated anything about the change.

Around 24 leaders from the state met Sonia Gandhi in the evening and the meeting lasted around two hours.

”Gandhi heard all the leaders and asked them to remain united and not air their differences in public,” a source said.

Sources said that she told leaders that in recent elections only because of disputes among the leaders the party witness failure.

She told the leaders that the Congress has a base in Himachal Pradesh and the party members must work hard 24X7 to ensure that a Congress government comes to power in the hill state in next year’s elections.

AAP’s victory in Punjab was also cited by some leaders as a reason to worry, as its ripple effect could be seen in Himachal as the two states share borders.

Some leaders also raised the issue of Himachal Pradesh being BJP chief JP Nadda’s home state and the BJP ”using all its force” to retain power in the hill state.

The sources said an organizational overhaul in Himachal is on the cards, which may happen soon.