Virbhadra loyalist hits out at Sukhu

Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 22

Expelled Virbhadra loyalist Baldev Singh Thakur today hit out at state Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu. He said that he would gain entry into the party through court intervention.

Addressing a press conference here today, Thakur, who had been expelled from the party for floating the Virbhadra Brigade, said he had filed a defamation case against Sukhu in a Kullu court where he has been asked to make a personal appearance on December 27.

“I have remained associated with the Congress for long, but never have I seen such a weak state party president and I have met AICC general secretary Ambika Soni in this regard,” he claimed.

He said he had written a letter to Sukhu after his expulsion in April to which he did not respond. “I wrote to him again, but he still did not respond. So I filed a case for damages against him,” he said.

The fresh salvo by Baldev Thakur against Sukhu is being viewed as part of the Virbhadra-Sukhu escalating tension in the recent past. Thakur had been expelled from the Congress after he floated “Virbhadra Brigade” on April 12 even though he disbanded it within a day.

Thakur also announced the setting up of an organisation — Himachal Vir Kalyan Samiti — to fight for various social causes.