Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday dissolved the party’s entire Himachal Pradesh unit, including district and block units, with immediate effect.

The Congress’ Himachal Pradesh chief, Pratibha Singh, however, said she was asked to continue on her post, The Indian Express reported.

This came more than five months after the Congress lost all four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh to the Bharatiya Janata Party despite being the state’s ruling party. The Congress, however, won six out of nine Assembly seats where bye-elections were held in June and July.

Advertisement

In July, the Congress formed a two-member committee to look into why it lost the Lok Sabha seats to the BJP. The panel submitted its findings after seeking feedback from party leaders and workers.

Pratibha Singh, the head of the party's state unit, told The Indian Express: “I have been stressing for a long time to dissolve the PCC [Pradesh Congress Committees] as well as the district and block levels units as too many people had been adjusted in the committees especially in view of the elections in the state. Change is always good.”

The move follows a period of internal turmoil and factionalism within the Congress in Himachal Pradesh.

Advertisement

In February, Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi lost the election for the sole Rajya Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh to the BJP’s Harsh Mahajan after cross-voting by six Congress MLAs.

Pratibha Singh and her son Vikramaditya Singh, the state’s public works department minister, had blamed Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu for the defeat.

Vikramditya Singh had even announced his resignation in protest, but withdrew it later “in the larger interest and unity of the party”.