Himachal Congress chief quits after poll defeat

SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh Congress president Viplove Thakur has resigned from her post owning moral responsibility for the party's debacle in last month's state assembly elections.

A Congress spokesperson on Friday said the resignation of Thakur has been accepted but she has been asked to continue in her post until the party appoints a new president.

Thakur submitted her resignation on Thursday to R.K. Dhawan, in-charge of the party affairs in Himachal Pradesh.

Thakur had been state Congress president for the last two and a half years.

In last month's assembly polls in the state, the Congress only managed to win 23 seats in the 68-member assembly, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to power by winning 41 seats.

Another fallout of the poll defeat was that former chief minister Virbhadra Singh was replaced Thursday by Vidya Stokes as the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader.

Stokes, 82, is currently the oldest legislator in the house.

The two-day winter session of the state assembly began in Dharamsala on Friday.