Nigam Bhandari’s appointment as Kinnaur chief exposes fault lines in Himachal Congress

Bhandari is the general secretary of the Indian Youth Congress and in-charge of the Karnataka Youth Congress, and is considered close to Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. His appointment is being viewed as his transition from the Youth Congress politics to a key organisational role.

Bhandari was on the Delhi Police’s radar in connection with the Youth Congress’s protest during the AI Summit in New Delhi earlier this year. A Delhi court later granted him interim bail in the case. Following the protest, Rahul Gandhi described the protesting Youth Congress workers as “Babbar Sher”.

Despite Negi’s public criticism of Bhandari, Congress insiders describe him as a committed grassroots worker who rose through the ranks of the organisation on the strength of his organisational abilities and political perseverance. “I have never seen him standing with the Congress in Kinnaur. He is not on good terms with people in his own area,” the minister decried Bhandari’s appointment.

A senior Congress leader claimed that Bhandari was among the strongest contenders for the Congress ticket from Kinnaur in 2022. “It was the reason why the ticket to then MLA Jagat Singh Negi was declared with a delay.”

The leader also claimed that the lack of a consensus over Bhandari’s appointment delayed the announcement of Kinnaur district president for nearly six months.

Born in Kinnaur, Bhandari began his political journey with the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI). He was elected NSUI president at Government College, Mandi, in 2005. After joining the Department of Laws at Himachal Pradesh University in 2007, he was elected NSUI campus president in 2008. He served as the state general secretary of NSUI between 2010 and 2012 before becoming an all-India secretary and later an all-India general secretary of the organisation.

In 2020, he was elected president of the Himachal Pradesh Youth Congress and subsequently elevated as the all-India general secretary of the Indian Youth Congress. He is also in-charge of the Karnataka Youth Congress.

Congress leaders recalled that when Bhandari became the Himachal Pradesh Youth Congress president, Sukhu, then a senior Congress leader, allowed him to use his Innova given to him by the party high command for his official tours.

Responding to the minister’s remarks, Bhandari told The Indian Express, “Negi is a very senior and respected Congress leader. There might be some misunderstandings. I am in Kinnaur and will meet him after returning to Shimla. I am confident that all misunderstandings will be resolved.”

Negi, however, believes that Bhandari’s appointment will definitely hit the Congress’s performance in the 2027 Assembly elections, at least in Kinnaur district. “It doesn’t mean that a Congress worker, who is actively participating in national-level politics, is also doing the same job on the local level. I never found Nigam Bhandari canvassing for the Congress in Kinnaur in my favour. Moreover, during the recently concluded Gram Panchayats elections, many Youth Congress workers reportedly close to Bhandari were found canvassing for the candidates supported by the BJP in Kinnaur. I’m sure that this appointment will affect the performance of Congress in the 2027 assembly elections.” Negi told The Indian Express.

Party insiders claim that one of the factors leading to Bhandari’s appointment was the Congress’s poor performance in the recent Panchayati Raj Institution elections in Kinnaur, where Congress-backed candidates lost nine of the ten Zila Parishad seats to BJP-backed candidates. The organisational reshuffle, they say, is aimed at revitalising the party in the strategically important tribal district ahead of future electoral challenges.