Dharamsala : All senior Congress leaders from the state, which included two union minister Virbhadra Singh and Anand Sharma, converged to put up a show of unity at the Parivartan Rally organized here and to announce that the opposition party was geared up to dislodge the Prem Kumar Dhumal led BJP government from power in the upcoming elections scheduled later for the year.
Taking the stage at the Dari Mela ground venue Virbhadra Singh said that whatever the state had achieved since coming into being was because of the vision of successive congress governments in the state and in the centre.
He said that Chief Minister Dhumal needed to be reminded about the special category status accorded to Himachal Pradesh along with Jammu and Kashmir and North Eastern states which enabled development in the state.
The union minister alleged that the chief minister was not confirming to uniform development of the state and a division among the people was being created.
He also held out that Dhumal had vested interest in HP Cricket Association (HPCA) which was controlled by his son Anurag Thakur.
High value land was provided for a 5 Star Hotel and stadium at Dharamsala but land for a central university was refused, said Virbhadra.
“Land for such a prestigious university was given 45 Kms apart and this will perhaps be the only university in hilly areas of the country to have campuses at such distances,” he added.
Speaking at the gathering union minister Anand Sharma said that the state BJP government was doing injustice to Congress party and the UPA government by blaming for its shortcomings.
It was the UPA government at the center that pulled the country through the economic crisis when the whole global economy was shaken up, said Sharma.
The central government has given Rs 27,000 crore to Himachal under MNREGA and other centrally sponsored programs, which the state government is claiming to be state programs.
He said that the state administration was in a mess under chief minister Dhumal. Congress is united over ousting the BJP government and would present its true face before the people, he added.
Congress general secretary and party incharge for Himachal, Chaudhary Birender Singh said the first mission of congress is to throw out the BJP government.
“If Congress men do not remain united, it would become difficult to dislodge the Dhumal government,” warned the senior leader.
Ridiculing the ‘Mission Repeat’ slogan coined by BJP for the state, Pradesh Congress President Kaul Singh said that it would turn around into mission defeat.
Congress leader GS Bali who after the rally embarked upon a tour of the state to highlight mounting unemployment said that bringing in muscle power from Punjab like in the previous election would not be tolerated.
Others who spoke on the occasion included Anees Ahmed and opposition leader Vidya Stokes.
Before the state goes into election in October, this is the first occasion that all Congress factions were seen together on one platform.
Arvind Sharma is an award winning bi-lingual journalist with more than 20 years of experience.
He has worked with Divya Himachal, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhasker, Vir Partap, Ajit and PTI.
In 2010, he was conferred the Himachal Kesri journalism award. He reports on the Tibetan Government in Exile, politics, sports, tourism and other topics. He lives in Dharamshala.
Only 2-300 people were present in the rally. Congress has a long way to even gain few seats in coming assembly elections. Not only that their leaders are already behaving like they have won elections.