Vinay Kumar takes charge as president of Himachal Cong

Shimla: Amid a show of unity and a call for party workers to gear up for the next electoral battle, Vinay Kumar took over as the new PCC president on Sunday, escorted to the chair by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri, and outgoing president Pratibha Singh.

Earlier, Kumar drove in an especially decorated vehicle to the PCC office—Rajiv Bhawan—cheered by the hundreds of party workers and greeted by his seniors on assuming the post.

The PCC was dissolved about a year back, and it was only the PCC president, Pratibha Singh, who had been retained by the party, playing a symbolic role while the organisation ceased to function.

It was after an intense discussion and parleys at the AICC level that Vinay Kumar’s name was finalised, overriding the Rajput factor and giving a preference to a Dalit face from Sirmaur, the home district of the state’s first chief minister, Dr Y. S. Parmar, who also had headed the party 50 years back.

Three-time MLA and former Deputy Speaker Kumar, who started his political journey after the demise of his father, Prem Singh, a six-time Congress MLA, remembered his father and some of the senior Congress leaders who had worked with him and were present at today’s party function.

“First of all, I thank party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, and Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri,” he said, adding that it was because of them that he got the responsibility to head the party at a stage when only two years were left for the Assembly polls. Asserting that it was his task now to rebuild the party and energise the party workers, take the seniors along, and act as a bridge between the government and the organisation.

Kumar said he will handle this responsibility honestly, use his energy to strengthen the Congress at the booth level, and take advice from everyone, especially the seniors, in the discharge of his functions.

Kumar also recalled Dr Y.S. Parmar, who had served as the Congress president decades ago, noting that he, too, hails from the same district. He acknowledged that the party faces several challenges but asserted that these will be overcome through hard work.

The CM, in his speech, said the party had submitted a panel of six names for the post, and the high command has chosen Vinay Kumar after due diligence.