In poll-bound Himachal Pradesh,the restoration of Virbhadra Singh as state Congress chief is a move meant to be the answer to one of the partys two problems but is no solution to the other. Internal party surveys and opinion polls had shown the Congress was not very comfortably placed against the well-entrenched BJP government led by Prem Kumar Dhumal,and the high command decided no leader other than Virbhadra would be capable of mounting a serious challenge. Having tried and failed to build a second line of leadership,it replaced Kaul Singh Thakur with Virbhadra. The other problem is infighting,with the party having faced a possible revolt by Virbhadra until they gave him the post. Far from ending the infighting,his restoration has only left the divisions sharper than ever. The response Virbhadra got when he arrived to take charge proved an effective demonstration of several things. It showed the aggression he can generate,with party members gheraoing the Assembly while it was in session. It showed that the Congress had been too busy fighting its own battles so far,for its MLAs had never thought of such an aggressive demonstration during previous sessions. And it also signalled what a man with such a following is capable of doing to his detractors. Now that he is in charge,the former chief minister is expected to be harsh during the distribution of tickets. Insiders feel Virbhadra will look at garnering at least 35 to 40 tickets,out of 68,for his loyalists so that they can pitch him as chief minister should the Congress win enough seats. The opposite camp may be resigned to not getting enough tickets but will still hope they can block his way to the chief ministers chair. They will be banking on the corruption charges framed against Virbhadra and his wife Pratibha Singh,a former MP; it was after these charges that he resigned as Union Minister. Virbhadra has been known to use numbers to his advantage. In 1993 when former Union minister Sukh Ram had staked his claim to the chief ministers chair this was before he was booked by the CBI it was Virbhadra who got it,with the numbers on his side. In 2003 it was Congress veteran Vidya Stokes,now Congress Legislature Party leader,who could not become chief minister despite a strong lobby in 10 Janpath; Virbhadra again had more MLAs on his side. Even in 1998,Virbhadra formed a 13-day government before Dhumal swung the equation in his favour with Sukh Rams support. Virbhadras rivals say it was because of him that the party could not form a lasting government; had Virbhadra sacrificed his chief ministerial ambitions,they say,Sukh Ram would have supported the Congress led by anyone other than Virbhadra. Over the past four-and-a-half years of BJP rule,much of the Congresss activity in the state has centred around rivals trying to put Virbhadra in his place. They managed to scuttle Virbhadras plans to get a ticket for his wife in the byelection to Rohru his fortress for more than two decades,which fell vacant in 2009 when he was elected to the Lok Sabha. His son Vikramaditya Singhs election as state Youth Congress president was set aside by FAME,an agency engaged by Rahul Gandhi for that election. Of the leaders in the rival camp,Kaul Singh Thakur was once a Virbhadra lieutenant before they fell out. Stokes is a long-time Virbhadra rival but has reportedly buried the hatchet,knowing he still holds the key to her very election. Many of his rivals are said to have Anand Sharmas backing in Delhi but none has a base comparable to Virbhadras at home. Virbhadra has mounted his fightback over the past three months. He challenged the party by flaunting the MLAs loyal to him,first hosting a luncheon meeting and then organising a felicitation rally on his birthday on June 24,where 21 of 23 sitting MLAs joined him,and then apparently setting his terms before the high command. It is understood that Virbhadra was looking at joining the NCP,which in turn has been looking for a foothold in Himachal Pradesh. The decision to effect a change of guard and make Virbhadra Singh PCC president is a politically sound move,and of course driven by political compulsions. Virbhadra is the tallest Congress leader and knows the pulse of the people. The party is quite confident of returning to power with these changes made in the core team, says Birender Singh,AICC general secretary in charge of the partys Himachal affairs. Virbhadra has a challenge ahead in proving that his appeal among Congress MLAs extends to the voters too. His role will be defined not just by the 2012 Assembly polls but also by the 2014 Lok Sabha elections,with the Congress having been swept out by the BJP in 2009. Of the four seats in Himachal Pradesh,the only one with the Congress was won by Virbhadra,with a slender margin.
