Revolting for “being sidelined” from the party’s consultation process for the upcoming assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh, senior Congress leader and leading light of G-23 dissident group Anand Sharma resigned from a key party panel - a development set to sour the mood of the opposition party in the state. Sharma wrote to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, listing his grievances and intimating about his decision to quit as the chief of the party steering committee in Himachal. He, however, said he will campaign for the party in his home state.
Given that election to the Congress president’s post is due in September, Sharma’s action is viewed as the ‘G-23’ signalling its displeasure over the state of affairs in the party. It remains to be seen if Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Azad and Sharma raise the issue with the Congress Working Committee (CWC) when it meets soon to decide on the poll schedule and if the dissident bloc fields a candidate in the internal elections.
After a string of election losses in the last three years, Congress is looking to oust BJP from power in the hill state, and is hopeful that it can finally end its streak of defeats against the arch-rival. Sharma is angry with "a couple of AICC managers" running the state show, some state leaders said his action has the support of a section of the state unit that shares his concern. A senior state leader said the party should listen to Sharma and address his grievances, in what marked a surprise backing in HP for Sharma’s rebellion. When the HP Congress was reconstituted in April, Sharma was named the chairman of the "steering committee", which is one of the poll-related panels that the party uses to accommodate leaders to placate individuals and for public messaging.
