Shimla, Aug. 22 -- Factionalism within the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) spilled into the open on Friday as the party's 'vote chor, kursi chhor' campaign launch in Shimla turned into a noisy show of strength between supporters of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh.

The meeting, held at the Rajiv Bhawan party headquarters to galvanise support for the nationwide Congress campaign, was attended by AICC in-charge Rajni Patil, HPCC chief Pratibha Singh, Chief Minister Sukhu, Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri, ministers, MLAs, municipal board chairpersons, vice-chairpersons, senior leaders, and former ministers.

What was intended to be a display of party unity quickly descended into chaos as rival ...