After welcoming Kangra Congress leader and once political enemy Vijay Singh Mankotia into the party fold, state Congress president Virbhadra Singh invited all those who had left to join hands and help throw out the BJP from power in state.
He also welcomed former state NSUI leader Atul Sharma back into the party fold at a function in the Congress Bhavan, he said those who believed in the Congress ideology always remained supportive of the party and it was time for all Congress-minded people to wage a united battle against the BJP.
He said he firmly believed that personal differences among leaders should not be allowed to undermine the party’s larger interests and it was for this reason that he invited Mankotia back into the party.
Regarding the permission granted to Priyanka Gandhi for the purchase of land in the state, he said there was nothing wrong. He said the clearance granted to Bamloe Builders with alleged DLF links under the Apartment Act for raising a colony was scandalous.
Virbhadra Singh was not happy with the poll schedule announced by the Election Commission. He said the entire process had been compressed into a month and there was very little time for candidates to campaign, considering the difficult topography.
Singh said that the commission, it seemed, had not taken the geographical features of the state into account while finalising the programme, but he claimed that it did not bother him much as he had established a rapport with the people, being in the thick of politics for the last five decades.
