Sukhu will continue as Himachal CM, Congress high-command told Vikramaditya Singh: Sources

The Congress high command has told disgruntled Himachal Pradesh Minister Vikramaditya Singh that there won't be a change of guard in the state anytime soon and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu will continue to lead the government, sources told India Today TV. 

Vikramaditya Singh, son of former Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, met Congress general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and KC Venugopal in Delhi on Sunday. The meeting lasted for over one-and-half hours, sources said.

The high command told Vikramaditya Singh that there was no question of a change of leadership in Himachal Pradesh, according to sources.  

The central leadership also directed the chief minister to maintain coordination between the party organisation and the government given the complaints raised by Congress MLAs.

Vikramaditya Singh and his mother Pratibha Singh, who is Congress Himachal chief, have revolted against the chief minister. The differences came to light after six MLAs cross-voted in Rajya Sabha elections for BJP's Harsh Mahajan, who was once the political advisor of Virbhadra Singh. 

Later, it emerged that 10 more MLAs wanted a change in the leadership in Himachal. However, Congress moved quickly and disqualified six rebel MLAs to prevent the collapse of the government.      

Last week, Vikramaditya resigned as the Public Works Department Minister, alleging that the Sukhu government had "humiliated" him and its own legislators.

There are speculations that Vikramaditya Singh may leave Congress and join the BJP. On March 1, he went to Chandigarh to meet the six disqualified Congress MLAs, sources told India Today. On March 2, Vikramaditya removed 'Himachal Pradesh minister' from his Facebook profile bio, replacing it with 'Himachal ka sevak (Worker of Himachal Pradesh)'.

(With inputs from Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu)