Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi kicks off the party’s campaign in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh on Saturday by addressing a rally in Mandi district. According to party sources, Gandhi may declare Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh as the party’s chief ministerial candidate for the polls during the rally. The Assembly elections are likely to be held before the end of the year.
The rally is being held in the backdrop of heightened tensions between Singh and PCC president Sukhwinder Sukhu, both of whom will share the stage after months of public acrimony. Singh had been seeking removal of Sukhu from the post ahead of the polls, a move that can be seen as part of his hard bargain to get free hand in the polls.
The rally comes close to the heels of Prime Minister Narinder Modi’s massive rally at Bilaspur, a native town of the Union Health Minister J P Nadda. In Bilaspur, the prime minister had laid the foundation stone for a new AIIMS project.
AICC general secretary Sushil Kumar Shinde said, “The purpose of Rahul Gandhi’s rally is to kick off the party’s poll campaign in the state. We are not drawing any comparison of crowd with that of the BJP’s rally at Bilaspur. It’s all about sending a message to the party cadres. So, we are not focusing on numbers to counter the Bilaspur rally.”
Meanwhile, there is excitement among Singh’s loyalists over the possibility of the party declaring him the chief ministerial face for the state elections. This they feel would be the first milestone to get Virbhadra Singh back in a commanding position in the state.
Infighting within the Congress and recent incidents like the rape and murder of a 16-year-old schoolgirl has plagued the state government’s image. The chief minister is also facing corruption allegations.
