Senior Congress leader Virbhadra Singh lowered down his rebellious attitude during district-level “Parivartan rally”, organised by the party at Una. In the rally he seems little off color, but maintained his characteristic dominating attitude on stage and also seen making efforts to exchange pleasantries with state Congress president Kaul Singh Thakur and party in-charge Virender Chaudhary.
In his address, Virbhadra Singh said, “Power and posts do not matter for me as my priority is only to ensure that the Congress returns to power in the state,” in his address he emphasis for the unity in the party to ensure the win in coming poll. He, however, cautioned the party leadership against fielding ‘nakli’ (fake) leaders if it has to ensure the Congress comeback, adding that the party should put its stakes on candidates who are linked to the grassroots.
In his speech, state party in-charge Virender Chaudhary termed Virbhadra Singh and Congress party as synonyms in Himachal Pradesh. He also called upon the senior and upcoming state party leadership to shun old and inactive leaders and pave the way for new and fresh faces in the state Congress. He added that future belongs to the youth and they should given enough time and exposure for the future well in time.
Virender Chaudhary cautioned that while the party’s screening committee would give a patient hearing to all the prospective candidates, the senior state leadership will have to support the ones who have been allotted the party symbol to contest. He also cautioned the rebels with stiff consequences if they don’t abide by the party line. Chaudhary added that only winning prospects will be considered for the party ticket, whether they are sitting MLA or Ex MLA.
He alleged that chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and his son had promoted land, forest, liquor and mining mafias in the state and had virtually purchased the BJP MLAs, while those who did not like the CM’s functioning, had left the party. He said that the Congress will ‘gherao’ the Vidhan Sabha during the coming assembly session on the failure of the state government on all fronts.
HPCC president Thakur Kaul Singh too blamed Dhumal for shielding anti-social elements and had played with the interests of the state. Vidya Stokes, leader of opposition in the Vidhan Sabha, said the BJP government had led the state to a debt trap with loans amounting to over Rs. 30,000 crore.
