New Delhi, July 7
In a move to mollify senior leader and former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, the Congress today named him in the campaign committee for parliamentary elections. Virbhadra’s close political associate Kaul Singh Thakur was handpicked to replace Viplove Thakur as the chief of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee.
The AICC move comes in the wake of Antony committee recommending the rehabilitation of Virbhadra Singh and other estranged senior Congress leaders to rejuvenate the party cadres. The committee was constituted
to suggest changes in the organisational structure of the state Congress units ahead of General Election. It was set up soon after the Congress’ failings in a slew of assembly elections.
For Virbhadra, the news comes as a “welcome relief”, considering he was sidelined following the defeat of the Congress in the Himachal assembly elections held last year. Soon after the Congress lost, Vidya Stokes was appointed the Congress Legislative Party chief in the state.
Accepting defeat, her supporter Viplove Thakur resigned as the HPCC chief, a post which had since been lying vacant. While Viplove moved on to become a Rajya Sabha member, Kaul Singh Thakur was today brought in to mend the crevices in state Congress structure.
Politically, the Congress’ move to bring in Virbhadra and his man seeks to regroup a divided party at grassroots. The Congress is also hoping to cash in on the influence of Kaul Singh in Mandi, where he has been a seven-time MLA from Darang, a seat which he won for the fourth time in last elections.
The BJP, which has considerably gained in this area in the past, is unfazed by the developments in state Congress. BJP’s Himachal chief Satya Pal Jain today told The Tribune, “This would add to the internal infighting in the state Congress, which has lost its credibility. To us, it does not really matter who heads the state Congress committee.”
The Congress recently lost in all assembly segments in the parliamentary byelections from Hamirpur, where all senior leaders including Kaul Singh Thakur and Virbhadra had canvassed for party
candidates.
As for Kaul Singh, he began his career as a panchayat samiti member and first became MLA in 1977 on a Janata Party ticket. After that he joined the Congress and was a minister for irrigation and public health.
