Rajani Patil, newly appointed All India Congress Committee (AICC) in charge for party affairs in Himachal Pradesh will be in Shimla for her two-day visit on February 28 and March 1.

Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee’s (HPCC) reconstitution seems to be on the horizon with her visit, as during her two-day visit, Patil will hold series of meetings with party leaders, including chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri, president HPCC Pratibha Singh, MLAs and all-party candidates who contested the 2022 assembly elections.

HPCC was dissolved by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on November 6, 2024, along with the district and block units with immediate effect.

For restructuring the committee, a series of meetings were held where AICC secretary and co-incharge Vidit Chaudhary and Chetan Chauhan took feedback from senior leaders, legislators, grassroots workers and affiliated organisations.

Patil will seek opinion of party leaders about the new office bearers and then will submit the report to the party high command and a new organisation will be announced.

On March 1, Patil will be meeting the MLAs and all Congress candidates who contested Himachal assembly elections in 2022. Later that day she will meet the state chief of frontal organisations and head of department/ cells before departing to Delhi on March 2.

The delay in the re-constitution of the Congress committee had already led to rumblings in the party. After Patil’s appointment, CM Sukhu, deputy CM Agnihotri and public works minister Vikramaditya Singh met her in Delhi and urged her to form a new organisation soon.

BJP yet to announce party president

The Opposition- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)– is likely to announce its state president in first week of March.

The main contenders for the post include Bilaspur MLA Trilok Jamwal, Kangra MP Rajeev Bhardwaj, Rajya Sabha MPs Sikander Kumar and Indu Goswami, former CM Jai Ram Thakur as well as incumbent BJP president Dr Rajeev Bindal.