Welcoming the appointment of Kuldip Rathore as the new state Congress President, former HP chief minister and senior party leader Virbhadra Singh Saturday said this step should have been taken much earlier.

The former CM said Sukhu was to be blamed for the party's debacle in the last Vidhan Sabha elections. He said Sukhu had ignored the grassroot workers of the party.

Virbhadra demanded all district Congress committees and block Congress committees be revamped and new persons appointed.

The former chief minister said Sujanpur MLA's son Abhishek Rana should be given a party ticket for the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat to inflict a crushing defeat on current MP Anurag Thakur of the BJP.

He hoped the new party chief would take all members in confidence and give new direction to the party.

At the event, the leader of the party in the Vidhan Sabha Mukesh Agnihotri hit out at chief minister Jai Ram Thakur and local MP Anurag Thakur for "fooling" the people.

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