Virbhadra-Sukhu ties touch new low

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, January 17

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today continued his spat with HPCC president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu. The Chief Minister, on his winter sojourn to Kangra district, while replying to queries from newspersons, said, “Adding prefix of CM to one’s name does not help in winning elections. To win elections. one has to have character.”

The Chief Minister was responding to a statement of Sukhu in which he had said he also could have won election from anywhere in case the word CM was prefixed with his name.

The spat had broken out this week when the Chief Minister, while talking to newsmen at Nurpur, stated that Sukhu, before talking of gearing up the party for winning elections, should first win his own elections. He was taking a jibe at Sukhu for having lost the last Assembly election from Nadaun.

Sukhu responded to the jibe yesterday by saying that had the prefix of CM been attached with his name, he could have won elections from anywhere.

The present winter sojourn of the Chief Ministrer has been marred with fissures within the party. Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Transport and Technical Education GS Bali had remained away from the winter sojourn. He was riled after being denied access to stage during the rally of Rahul Gandhi at Dharamsala on December 24.

Now Sukhu had also joined chorus and allegations and counter-allegations are flying within the Congress. This is giving ready ammunition to the Opposition who is using the statements of Congress leaders to their advantage.

The CM has also convened a Cabinet meeting at Dharamsala on Wednesday. Earlier, the CM was scheduled to just organise meetings of welfare boards of various communities at Dharamsala.

The Chief Minister snubbed newspersons who posed him queries regarding the absence of GS Bali from his programmes.