Shimla, July 8: Ruling out any possibility of his joining the BJP, a defiant Congress leader Vijai Singh Mankotia today said that rather than ordering his removal, it is time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh steps down, giving relief to the Congress party and Himachal Pradesh from further shame and disgrace. Addressing a press conference here today, Mankotia who called himself as a one-man army, threatened to expose some corrupt politicians and officials, who were virtually holding the Chief Minister captive in the coming days.
“More than 80 per cent of the people of Himachal would like to urge the Chief Minister to step down and end his political journey to save the Congress and Himachal from further humiliation,” he remarked. Waiving magazines and newspaper clippings with headlines on the corruption cases faced by him, he said the Chief Minister had lost the moral authority to continue.
“It may sound pompous but yes I have no hesitation in claiming that I will be the game changer in Himachal politics,” he announced.While demanding that the Congress high command should make leadership change in Himachal, the former Army officer said he like many independent surveys had indicated, he felt that in the ensuing Assembly elections, the Congress will probably not be able to touch the double digit.
“The finance of the state have been wrecked by a reckless man and what is even more surprising is the fact that the opposition parties have also not sought details of the expenditure made by the Chief Minister and his entourage to deal with the cases Virbhadra faces in various courts of law,” he remarked.He even challenged the Chief Minister’s popularity claims and said that despite being a five-time the Chief Minister, the party has never returned to power while the Congress was in government.
“It is the likes of Pawan Chamling in Sikkim, Jyoti Basu in West Bengal, Narendra Modi in Gujarat, Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh and Shivraj Chauhan in Madhya Pradesh who can be called popular leaders,” he stated. On the contrary, the Congress had lost all four Lok Sabha seats in 2012, both by-polls in Sujanpur and Bhoranj and now the Shimla MC polls.Mankotia, a five-time MLA from Shahpur, announced that he had no plans to join the BJP nor was he in touch with any of their leaders.
“I feel the Congress needs to be rid of the power brokers who have completely tarnished the image of the party,” he regretted. He said the Congress regime in Himachal had completely failed on the two most importsant issues of employment generation and in attracting sufficient investment which could help create the much needed jobs.While admitting that he has always been on the other side of the fence and fought against the establishment, he said the Congress high command could still salvage the party from total eclipse if there is change of leadership.
“I would say it is an uphill task for the Congress to return to power but not impossible if there is change of leadership as the BJP is a completely divided house,” he said.
Source Tribune India
