The Congress has dissolved its state unit in Himachal Pradesh, one of only three states where it has its own chief minister.

In a statement on Wednesday, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said, “Honourable Congress President has approved the proposal to dissolve the entire state unit of the PCC, District Presidents and Block Congress Committees of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee, with immediate effect.”

The president of the outgoing state Congress unit is Pratibha Singh, who is the widow of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh. 

Hon’ble Congress President has approved the proposal to dissolve the entire state unit of the PCC, District Presidents and Block Congress Committees of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee, with immediate effect. pic.twitter.com/xofu5vPRyy

— INC Sandesh (@INCSandesh) November 6, 2024

A similar exercise was carried out in 2019 as well, when the Congress had dissolved its state unit, but retained the president, Kuldeep Singh Rathore, who had been appointed earlier that year. 

Pratibha Singh was appointed the head of the Congress’ Himachal Pradesh unit in 2022 and was seen as one of the frontrunners for the chief minister’s post after the Assembly elections that year. The post went to Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.

Sources said the dissolving of the state unit is part of a planned revamp.