‘Raja’ Virbhadra reclaims his throne in HP
21 Dec 2012 6:08 AM IST
Seventy-eight-year-old Virbhadra Singh is an old war horse who could not be put down by allegations of corruption nor by infighting in the Congress as he steered the party back to power in Himachal Pradesh with a spirited campaign.
The veteran may all be set to become chief minister of the state for the sixth time, setting a record. In his five-decade long political innings, he has been a seven-time MLA, a five-time MP and five-time Chief Minister. He has also been a four-time President of the State Congress and represents the Mandi seat in the present Lok Sabha.
Singh was Chief Minister between 1983 and 85; 1985 and 1990; 1993 and 1998 and 2003 and 2007. But still he would not he would not hazard a guess about it. ‘Congress President will decide who the CM will be,’ he said reacting to the verdict today.
Scion of Himachal Pradesh’s erstwhile royal state of Rampur Bushehar, Singh was educated in Bishop Cotton School at Shimla and St Stephen’s College, New Delhi, Virbhadra Singh stands as the tallest among the stalwarts of state Congress.
Even though his detractors accuse him of being ‘feudal’ and ‘inflexible’ in his style of functioning, his amiable nature and has earned respect among the people of the hill state. For Singh, the current election was the biggest political challenge of his life. It was literally a make-or- break election for the battle-scared veteran who was virtually fighting a lone battle, one that was dotted with a series of corruption allegations from the BJP. Under his leadership, the faction-ridden State Congress emerged victorious at a time when it faced heat due to corruption and price rise at the Centre.
Singh also faught personal corruption charges levelled against him just ahead of the current polls and emerged stronger even now.
A political heavyweight, Singh has proved that he can be down but not out. Attempts by the Congress to sideline him after his resignation from the Union Cabinet in the wake of corruption charges against him also failed and he resurrected as a force to reckon. His known detractors like Sukh Ram have now come out openly in his favour. For Virbhadra, however, controversies and struggles are not new. Carted out of Himachal in 2007 when the party lost the state to the BJP, Singh was made a union minister in 2009.
Only recently Virbhadra received another blow after his son Vikramaditya’s election as the state youth Congress chief was set aside and he was debarred from running again.
Then came a series of political allegations against Virbhadra including the one following the release of an Income Tax Investigation which said some ‘VBS’ received kickbacks from a steel company in exchange for favours.
The veteran may all be set to become chief minister of the state for the sixth time, setting a record. In his five-decade long political innings, he has been a seven-time MLA, a five-time MP and five-time Chief Minister. He has also been a four-time President of the State Congress and represents the Mandi seat in the present Lok Sabha.
Singh was Chief Minister between 1983 and 85; 1985 and 1990; 1993 and 1998 and 2003 and 2007. But still he would not he would not hazard a guess about it. ‘Congress President will decide who the CM will be,’ he said reacting to the verdict today.
Scion of Himachal Pradesh’s erstwhile royal state of Rampur Bushehar, Singh was educated in Bishop Cotton School at Shimla and St Stephen’s College, New Delhi, Virbhadra Singh stands as the tallest among the stalwarts of state Congress.
Even though his detractors accuse him of being ‘feudal’ and ‘inflexible’ in his style of functioning, his amiable nature and has earned respect among the people of the hill state. For Singh, the current election was the biggest political challenge of his life. It was literally a make-or- break election for the battle-scared veteran who was virtually fighting a lone battle, one that was dotted with a series of corruption allegations from the BJP. Under his leadership, the faction-ridden State Congress emerged victorious at a time when it faced heat due to corruption and price rise at the Centre.
Singh also faught personal corruption charges levelled against him just ahead of the current polls and emerged stronger even now.
A political heavyweight, Singh has proved that he can be down but not out. Attempts by the Congress to sideline him after his resignation from the Union Cabinet in the wake of corruption charges against him also failed and he resurrected as a force to reckon. His known detractors like Sukh Ram have now come out openly in his favour. For Virbhadra, however, controversies and struggles are not new. Carted out of Himachal in 2007 when the party lost the state to the BJP, Singh was made a union minister in 2009.
Only recently Virbhadra received another blow after his son Vikramaditya’s election as the state youth Congress chief was set aside and he was debarred from running again.
Then came a series of political allegations against Virbhadra including the one following the release of an Income Tax Investigation which said some ‘VBS’ received kickbacks from a steel company in exchange for favours.
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