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Congress steps up efforts to placate Virbhadra
Anita Katyal
Tribune News Service

Virbhadra’s grouses The veteran leader is seeking a larger role in ticket distribution He has underlined that candidate selection is a crucial factor in elections. He has pointed to the organisational deficiencies in the state The veteren leader is pressing for the appointment of a working president to assist PCC chief Kaul Singh

New Delhi, July 27
The Congress today stepped up efforts to placate senior leader Virbhadra Singh who has offered to resign from various party committees which have been set up to prepare for the year-end Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh.

Upset over the composition of these panels, five-time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh is pressing for a greater say in the selection of candidates for the forthcoming polls and the appointment of a working president in the Himachal Pradesh state unit on the plea that PCC chief Kaul Singh is ineffective. The veteran leader has even threatened to leave the party if his demands are not met.

Realising that Virbhadra is the party’s tallest leader in Himachal Pradesh, the party Central leadership immediately despatched senior AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh to meet the former chief minister and assure him that his grievances would be redressed.

This was followed up by a late evening meeting with Ahmed Patel, Congress president’s political secretary, who is stated to have counselled Virbhadra not to go ahead with his resignations as his demands would be considered sympathetically. The two had also conferred last night when Virbhadra is said to have conveyed his annoyance over the handling of the coming Assembly elections.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who has been appointed chairperson of the screening committee to short-list candidates for the Himachal Pradesh elections, is slated to meet the veteran leader tomorrow.

Unhappy over his exclusion from the screening panel, Virbhadra has offered to resign from the campaign committee, which he heads, and from the membership of the drafting and election strategy panels.

It is learnt that Virbhadra has told the party leadership that he should have a larger role in ticket distribution if he was being entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring Congress victory in the next assembly polls. Pointing to the party’s recent experience in Punjab and Uttarakhand, the veteran leader underlined.