‘Raja Saheb’ set to be crowned again

Amitabh Shukla / Shimla

Virbhadra Singh, popularly known as Raja Saheb in the State, is set to be Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh for the sixth time — a feat which has few parallels in Indian politics.

The 78-year-old politician, who has been in the Congress for over five decades, is the architect of the Congress victory as his arrival as Pradesh Congress Committee president barely a few weeks before the polls, not only enthused the party workers but also made them believe that they can successfully challenge the BJP.

Singh did not hide his chief ministerial aspirations. “I was sent by our president Sonia Gandhi to the State with the message that Himachal Pradesh had to be won. I have done this with the help of the people of the State and the party workers. The desire of the people of the State is supreme. Our party president never overlooks aspirations of the people,” he said, clearly hinting that he should be made the Chief Minister.

The Raja of Bushar, a small principality, however, hastened to add, “I am a disciplined soldier of the Congress and bound by the discipline of the party. I will do what the high command says.” He has already listed his priorities as to what he would do once he becomes the Chief Minister.

Singh had to resign from the Union Cabinet in June-end, just a few months before the Assembly election for the State was announced due to framing of charges against him in a corruption case, the complainant of which was Major Vijay Singh Mankotia. “They (BJP) brought false cases against me. They conspired against me and brought the so-called CD case... They misused Government machinery and the police. People of the State have answered them,” an elated Singh said after his victory.

After Kaul Singh Thakur was removed as PCC president and Singh brought in, he drew a strategy in a short period at his disposal which included winning over his critics and rivals within the party. He brought in Major Mankotia and gave a ticket to him even though he was a complainant in the CD case which led to framing of charges against him. The message was loud and clear — victory was paramount not personal likes and dislikes. Vidya Stokes, another rival in the party, too came out in support of the Raja and so did GS Balli. All prominent Congress leaders won over, Singh got his act together and ensured that his loyalists, most of them winning candidates, got a lion's share in ticket distribution exercise.

“He knows the State like the back of his hand — every village, every hillock and every area where there is habitation,” one of his supporters said at the crowded Congress office here when asked about the way Singh motivated the party workers and the cadres. The micro-level poll management of the five-time Chief Minister, considering all equations at the ground level, helped the party surmount the obstacles, another party leader said.

A meeting of the Congress Legislature Party is expected to meet in a day or two which will take a call on the new leader. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde will be the central observer. As Virbhadra Singh single handedly won the state for the Congress, it is expected that the party High Command will anoint him as the CLP leader and Chief Minister.

"It is a case where the victory can be safely attributed to one person - Virbhadra Singh. Whatever case he is facing is extremely weak and the main witness has retracted. There is no alternative to him in the state," a senior party leader said from New Delhi. Moreover, no claimant for the post has emerged in the Congress so far, indicating that even his rivals within the party admit that his contribution in the victory was immense and needs to be acknowledged. (December 21, 2012) 

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