Rajeev Shukla, Congress in-charge for Himachal, before leaving for Shimla.
On its way to victory in Himachal, the Congress is now taking cautious steps to ensure that its flock stays together. Party observer Rajeev Shukla told reporters that MLAs may be moved to Chandigarh, 90 km away, "for convenience", and said BJP's poaching attempts will not succeed if the Congress crosses 40, five above the majority mark in the 68-member assembly.
On who will be chief minister, Mr Shukla took the familiar Congress line: "The high command will decide after discussion with MLAs."
There are three clear contenders — state unit chief Pratibha Singh and senior leaders Sukhvinder Sukhu and Mukesh Agnihotri — which is why the party feared BJP's "Operation Lotus", code for PM Narendra Modi's party getting MLAs to switch loyalties to topple Opposition parties' governments. The Congress suffered this in Madhya Pradesh not long ago.
Sources said MLAs may be taken to Rajasthan or Chhattisgarh, the only two states where the Congress has chief ministers, after a pitstop in Chandigarh, if the margin remains slender.
Mr Shukla so far said a meeting of MLAs may be called in Chandigarh "because people from all regions can easily reach there".
"We may call them to Shimla, too. We will decide by the evening," he said in Delhi before leaving for Shimla. Two other observers — Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Haryana leader Bhupinder Hooda — are reaching the Himachal capital too.
Many winning candidates already started reaching Pratibha Singh's home in Shimla. Congress in-charge Tajinder Singh Bittu said earlier today, "We are taking our leaders to Chandigarh and closing our doors and windows as the BJP will try to poach, as they have done many times in the past."
Bhupesh Baghel responded to a question about it in Chhattisgarh before leaving for Himachal: "I will be going to Himachal as I am the party observer there. We'll not bring them (MLAs) here. But we do have to ensure our people are kept together. The BJP can go to any lengths."
Himachal is essential to giving the Congress some confidence as today it lost badly in PM Modi's home state Gujarat.
