Not a chip off the old block: How Congress found itself in middle of a father-son feud in Himachal Pradesh

While Kumar chose to play down his son’s outburst and termed the incident a case of “young blood speaking out in frustration”, he admitted that ongoing transfers had “opened Pandora’s Box”, indicating deeper administrative challenges for the government. “The issue (with regard to Bharti) is done. Things are sorted. CM Sukhu has spoken to my son,” Kumar said a day after Bharti’s outburst.

However, Bharti has seemingly not taken too kindly to his father referring to him as “young blood”. He yet again took to social media on June 20 and this time said his fight was “only for the Congress workers”. He went on to say he was even ready to contest the next Assembly polls against his father.

The same day, Bharti arrived in Shimla to meet Sukhu but could not due to the CM’s “busy schedule”. “I am not against development … My concerns are regarding a few people taking money for minor works like transfers and postings … This is the only reason I asked my father to resign. The matter is sorted. Hopefully, I can meet the CM on Sunday,” he said.

Kumar on Saturday alleged that an individual who grew closer to Sukhu during the campaign for the high-profile Dehra Assembly bypoll last year was allegedly working as a middleman to facilitate transfers and accused him of “interfering” in his constituency Jawali, a seat his son represented between 2012 and 2017. However, he claimed that Sukhu “may not be aware of the individual”.

On Sunday evening, Bharti met Sukhu along with his wife and claimed that the CM had assured investigation and action against the “middlemen”. “After a long and positive discussion, the misunderstandings and differences that had arisen due to a lack of coordination were resolved. The CM has guaranteed that the development works in the Jawali Assembly Constituency will be completed on a priority basis,” he said.

Even as Congress insiders said the incident was likely a reflection of a broader frustration among grassroots workers and the mid-level leadership over administrative decisions and lack of access to the power corridors, Sukhu’s Principal Media Advisor Naresh Chauhan said every minister was “free to work as per his or her wishes”.

BJP targets government

The BJP was quick to target Sukhu over the row, with the party’s state president Rajeev Bindal accusing the CM of “working alone” and running the government in an “autocratic fashion”.

“I am not surprised about what is happening in the Congress government… Which minister is happy with Sukhu? Either his ministers are in isolation, or the CM himself is. We all remember what happened in 2023, when PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh threatened to resign because his government did not permit him to install a statue of his father and six-time CM Virbhadra Singh,” he said.

Dismissing the allegations, Chauhan said the BJP was frustrated as their “misdeeds”, including the 2023 attempt to topple the government, had failed.

Usual suspect

Triggering controversies by airing his views on social media is not new to Bharti. In June 2020, amid the standoff between India and China in Galwan, his posts criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS landed him in jail under stringent charges, including sedition. He was later granted bail.

Two years later, in February 2022, Bharti hit the headlines after he challenged Dharamshala MLA Sudhir Sharma to a debate on social media. He was detained for the post and later released.

Bharti was again in the spotlight after former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee passed away for his alleged derogatory comments about senior BJP leaders.

Bharti’s outbursts have not gone down well with his partymen either. “Apart from the fact that he is the son of a senior leader, there is no reason to take Bharti seriously… There must have been a reason why he was replaced by his father in Jawali,” a senior Congress leader said.

Kumar, who is popularly known as “Chacha Chaudhary” and is seen to speak his mind, has also had his share of run-ins with the Sukhu government. In February 2024, calling for the reconstitution of disbanded district- and block-level Congress units, he described the Himachal Congress as a “paralysed” unit.

Last September, he not only publicly opposed the government’s proposal to set up a tourism village in Kangra but also voted against it in the Assembly.