Congress on a winning streak in Himachal despite Virbhadra’s absence

Political pundits thought that passing away of Virbhadra would mark the end of an era for the Congress but the party seems to have come out of his spell and grown to stand up on its own

Shimla, Dec 08: No doubt six-time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has left a strong legacy behind him, but the Congress party in Himachal Pradesh seems to have come out of his more than half-a-century spell and grown to stand up on its own.

As the trends show, the party is going to cross the halfway mark and form government in the state.

Singh had dominated state politics for over six decades and helped Congress win elections after elections. Hence, the fight of the current Assembly polls could have been tough for the party after his demise.

However, the party has performed well at the hustings even in his absence.

The Congress veteran leader, popularly known as 'Raja Saheb', died in July last year. Political pundits thought that his passing away would mark the end of an era for the Congress and it may not be able to stand on its own feet to give BJP a tough fight in the ensuing polls even as the ruling party was banking on the clean image of two-time Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.

However, there is no denying that Virbhadra Singh's death has left a large void in Congress as no other leader in the state has the kind of mass appeal and popularity that he had.

As his wife and present HPCC chief Pratibha Singh said, "Congress led in the state many times and these times also we will win because of Virbhadra Singh's work what he has done, most of the MLAs who would be winning elections."

Virbhadra Singh was the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh for a record six times. Also, he was nine-time MLA and five-time MP. The veteran Congress leader remained CM from April 8, 1983, to March 5, 1990, from December 3, 1993, to March 23, 1998, from March 6, 2003, to December 29, 2007, and for the last time from December 25, 2012, to December 26, 2017.

He also remained the Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly from March 1998 to March 2003. Moreover, he also served as the Union Deputy Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation, as well as the Union Minister of Steel and MSME.

He was re-elected to the 13th Vidhan Sabha in December 2017 from Arki Assembly constituency in Solan district.

Previously, he was elected to the Assembly in October 1983 (by-election); re-elected in 1985 from the Jubbal-Kotkhai Assembly seat, in 1990, 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2007 from the Rohru segment and in 2012 from Shimla Rural constituency.

He was further elected to the third Lok Sabha in 1962, the fourth Lok Sabha from the Mahasu Constituency in 1967, the fifth Lok Sabha in 1971, the seventh Lok Sabha in 1980 and the fifteenth Lok Sabha (5th term) from the Mandi Lok Sabha Constituency in May 2009.