After a much-needed win in Himachal Pradesh — on a day of drubbing in Gujarat — the Congress is gathering its flock for a meeting outside the state, in neighbouring Chandigarh, cautious against possible poaching attempts by the ruling BJP. But it insists it has enough seats — 39 in a House of 68 against the BJP's 26 — to not fear "Operation Lotus".
Winners had already started reaching state unit chief Pratibha Singh's home in Shimla. Sources earlier said Chandigarh may be a pitstop before the group is flown to Chhattisgarh, one of only two states where the Congress has chief ministers; this was later denied by top leaders.
"We are taking our leaders to Chandigarh and closing our doors and windows as the BJP will try to poach, as they have done many times in the past," confirmed Tajinder Singh Bittu, Congress in-charge for Himachal.
Beset with factionalism in Himachal, the Congress fears the BJP's "Operation Lotus", a code for PM Narendra Modi's party getting MLAs to switch loyalties and toppling Opposition parties' governments — a fate the Congress suffered in Madhya Pradesh. Goa, too, saw majority of Congress MLAs moving to the BJP in two instances over the past few years.
Today it has already lost badly in PM Modi's home state and BJP bastion Gujarat; but it never expected to win there anyway.
Himachal is essential to giving the party some confidence before the big 2024 contest for the Lok Sabha, barely 15 months away now.
Three factions, however, are at play in Himachal — led by state chief Pratibha Singh, Leader of Opposition Sukhvinder Sukhu, and senior leader Mukesh Agnihotri.
The first shot at the chief minister's chair came from the camp of Pratibha Singh, wife of the late Virbhadra Singh who was the party's tallest leader until his death last year. Her son and MLA Vikramditya Singh said, "As a son, I want Pratibha ji to get a big responsibility. But we will respect whatever the party decides. I am sure the party will take into account what the people want."