A pall of gloom has descended in Himachal on hearing that "Raja" left for his heavenly abode today. In his death, it's the end of the grass-root leader era in Congress. No other state Congress leader can match his popularity. His popularity was such that he would never campaign in his own constituency after filing his nomination papers yet he would win comfortably.
A great fighter to the core, the “Raja” exhibited the same fighting spirit in fighting the deadly corona. He defied corona twice and recovered fully from it but finally succumbed to it in wee hours today.
Dominating the political spectrum for nearly six decades, he became an MP at the age of 28 in 1962 and chief minister for the first time in 1983, and later to don the mantle five times more. He would always give credit to J.L. Nehru for bringing him into politics.
Virbhadra Singh was again elected to Lok Sabha 1967, 1971. 1980 and in 2009. He was a member of the Indian Delegation to the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1976. He faced electoral defeat only on two occasions. He had to face defeat at the hands of former Chief Minister Ram Lal Thakur in 1990 from Jubbal-Kotkhai though Virbhadra won hands down from Rohru Assembly seat and in Mandi Lo Seat in 1977 Janata wave.
Between 1976 and 1977, Virbhadra Singh was the Deputy Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation in Indira Gandhi cabinet. He was Minister of State for Industries between 1980 and 1983 before doing the mentle of Chief Minister. From May 2009 until January 2011, he held the cabinet post of Minister for Steel. He then became cabinet minister with responsibility for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, until resigning from office in June 2012.
He was the Chief Minister from 1983 to 1990, from 1993 to 1998 and from 2003 to 2007 as the Chief Minister from 2012 to 2017.
From a novice politician, Raja become one of the tallest Congress leaders in the country. He was State Congress President in 1977, 1979, 1980 and 2012. He has also the rare distinction of remaining Cheif Minister in 1998 for a brief period of 18 days after he failed to win a confidence vote in the assembly. It was an independent legislator Ramesh Dhawala who ditched Congress and Supported PK Dhumal-led BJP.
Between 1976 and 1977, Singh held the national office of Deputy Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation in central cabinet. He was Minister of State for Industries between 1980 and 1983.[8] From May 2009 until January 2011, he held the cabinet post of Minister for Steel. He then became cabinet minister with responsibility for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises,[8] until resigning from office in June 2012. He was a member of the Indian Delegation to the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1976.
I was greatly impressed with him when I met him first time in 1984. I had gone to invite him to inaugurate the New And Feature Agency (MNFA), I was to launch. He readily agreed and was gracious enough to walk down the central Hotel premises near High Court on foot as there was no connecting road. He always encouraged local people to rise and would help them out by all means.
Later when I Worked out a project to launch a daily newspaper with the help of some enterprising locals, he was the first one to tap me on the back. He took great pains to get my project financed by financial institutions. Its a different matter that in India projects are approved not on merits but by the hefty commission via middlemen. I learned this hard lesson much later.
His popularity transcended even political barriers. Even his bitterest critics across party lines admired his fighting and undaunted spirit to bounce back against all odds. This spirit often led to accusations of feudalistic and dictatorial style of functioning.
And it was, perhaps this style of functioning that more often than not, "Raja" had to fight his way to the Chief Minister chair, against the wishes of the high command. In 1993, he made it sure that he didn't lose the fight for the chair to Pandit Sukh Ram. His arch rival had the full support of the then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao. with the support of majority MLA’s,Virbhadra exhibited his popularity forcing a reluctant high command to hand over the CM’s chair to him. Later it was Sukh Ram who was instrumental in keeping the Congress out of power after he floated his own political outfit, Himachal Vikas Congress and extended support to the Dhumal-led BJP regime in 1998 Assembly polls, His party had won five assembly seats.
His fans had coined a slogan “Raja nahin fakir hai, Himachal ki takdir hai,” as Raja remained most accessible to the people. He would often extend financial help to the needy from his personal resources.
It is said in politics that best way to break the popularity of a mass leader is to taint his image. So his adversaries succeeded and his image as an honest politician got tainted after a legal case was registered against Singh and his wife by the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Himachal Pradesh.
The allegations were that they had breached the Prevention of Corruption Act in 1989, when Singh was Chief Minister of the state. The Bureau alleged that it had evidence in recorded conversations between the couple and various others concerning suspect financial transactions. The alleged recordings, which involved a now-dead officer of the Indian Administrative Service and several industrialists, dated from 2007 and were provided by a political opponent, Vijay Singh Mankotia. Earlier, Mankotia had tried to taint Virbhadra's image by presenting a woman claiming Rani od Dada Siba as legal wife of Raja Virbhadra Singh. Later, it turned out a ploy to spoil Raja's image.
In 2015 the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a case against Singh and his family for owning assets to the tune of Rs. 6.1 crore disproportionate to his known sources of income when he was the union minister between 2009 and 2011. Cases have been filed against his wife Pratibha Singh, son Vikramaditya and daughter Aparajita as well.
The Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) raided 11 properties of Virbhadra Singh to probe the charges of accumulating disproportionate assets. A case had been filed by the agency one day before the raids.
All these happenings had hurt him mentally and he fell to poor health. He took cudgel with his arch rival PK Dhumal and his cricketer-turned politician son Anurag Thakur. As the destiny would have it, Anurag Thakur has seen his elevation from Minister of state to a Cabinet Minister on the day when Virbhadra Singh left for his heavenly abode.
Be that as it may, none of the state leaders from any party were a match to Virbhadra’s popularity and public connect. He would often say, “Meri janata meri sabsay badhi takat hai (People are my biggest strength)”. And today the "Raja of people's hearts"are no more with us but he will remain live in people's memories for generations to come.
(Chander Sharma)
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