VBS likely to be next CM

Amitabh Shukla / Shimla

With AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit appointed as central observers for the meeting of Congress Legislative Party (CLP) here on Saturday, it is now almost certain that Virbhadra Singh would be the next Chief Minister of the State.

Both Dwivedi, who is also the head of the Congress media department and Dikshit, the three- time Chief Minister of Delhi, share a good equation with Singh, who single handedly managed to win Himachal Pradesh for the Congress. In fact, Dikshit was the Chairperson of the Screening Committee of the party which selected candidates in Himachal Pradesh in which Singh was practically given a free hand. Sources in the party said that instead of keeping the suspense for a long time, the central leadership of the party has decided to take a decision at the earliest possible and the swearing in ceremony could be held either on the day of Christmas or even a day earlier depending on the new CLP leader.

“What goes in favour of Singh is the TINA (There is no alternative) factor. The victory is being credited to him as it took place at a time when issues were being raised by the Opposition against the Congress at the national level. Moreover, the victory is all the more sweet as it was not exactly expected and neutralized the poor performance in Gujarat to some extent,” said a senior Congress leader from New Delhi. While two dozen of the 36 Congress MLAs are loyal to Singh, his rivals in the party do not enjoy any such support base. A section of the Congress leaders pitched in the name of Union Minister Anand Sharma. However, what goes against Sharma is the fact that he was not involved in the process of Assembly Election at any stage and he could be seen as an imposition from above, something which won’t be acceptable to the majority of the Congress MLAs. Moreover, Sharma has never been in electoral politics of the State.

Another contender Vidya Stokes is 84-year old and has contested her last election. She is suave and keeps a low profile. Over a period of time, she has limited herself to her constituency Theog and is not conversant with the grassroots politics of the State, in which Singh is an expert. Given the fact that Congress has a simple majority, just crossing the halfway mark, it would require a “political manager” to keep any trouble at bay. Stokes might not be able to match that yardstick. Former PCC President Kaul Singh Thakur does not have the kind of stature required for the top job while GS Balli and Asha Kumari too is no match to Virbhadra Singh at this point of time. All these detractors of Singh owe their allegiance to Anand Sharma. Singh’s detractors point out to the charges framed against him in a local court here which led to his resignation from the Union Cabinet in June this year. “BJP conspired and framed me falsely. The witness is also not there,” Singh said, brushing aside the charges against him.

Singh was handed over the job of President of Himachal Congress, practically on the eve of the polls indicating that he was the main war horse of the party and it trusted him to win Himachal Pradesh. In addition, he was given a ticket to contest the Assembly Election from Shimla (Rural), something unheard of in Congress as no sitting MP is given party ticket to contest assembly polls. Singh is the sitting MP from Mandi. The indications are clear that he would be the next leader of the CLP and the chief minister for a record sixth time, a feat unparalleled in Congress politics.  (December 22, 2012) 

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