Bhoranj bypoll: Virbhadra Singh hits campaign trail

With the ruling Congress and Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party pumping in all their might to woo voters, electioneering for bypolls in the Bhoranj assembly segment of Himachal Pradesh has reached its crescendo.

The Bhoranj assembly bypoll is important, both for the Congress and the BJP.

The BJP has won elections from the seat for six consecutive times , while for the Congress it is precursor for the state assembly elections due this year. It will also be a litmus for the Congress which is in the midst of a major political controversy due to Virbhadra Singh’s PMLA cases.

While the BJP top brass have been camping in Bhoranj ever since the election was announced on March 14, the Congress campaign had been marred with infighting and the PMLA case against the chief minister.

The BJP was quick to announce candidature of Dr Anil Dhiman, son of six-time legislator and former education minister Ishwar Dass Dhiman who died last year.

The Congress, however, first chose to bank on its local leader Prem Kaushal but at the last moment gave the ticket to Pramila Devi, a zila parishad member from former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal’s home ward Bamson.

More trouble brewed for the Congress as the CBI filed a chargesheet against Virbhadra Singh, following which senior leaders of the party were forced to rush to Shimla and Delhi to handle the situation.

In the absence of senior leaders, the party’s campaigning in Bhoranj was left to middle-rung leaders.

State party chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu too shuttled between Shimla and Delhi to apprise party high command about the developing political situation in the state.

Virbhadra Singh, who returned to Shimla after five days, travelled to Bhoranj on Thursday and addressed a series of public meetings.

He outrightly blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party for the cases against him and termed it as a “handywork” of his predecessor Prem Kumar Dhumal and his sons Anurag Thakur and Arun Dhumal.

The factionalism in the Congress was all the more visible with Virbhadra Singh and Sukhwinder Sukhu campaigning separately.

Sukhu was accompanied by health minister Kaul Singh Thakur and Congress veteran and irrigation and public health minister Vidya Stokes.

Addressing an election rally, Sukhu said former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has failed in development of Hamirpur district.