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A battle royal in Himachal

A matter of prestige: Virbhadra Singh

MANDI: The sprawling Mandi Lok Sabha constituency in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh, consisting of tribal and snow-bound areas, is heading for a tough battle royal with both the Congress and BJP candidates belonging to the royal families set to cross swords during the May 13 polls.

While the Congress has fielded the five-time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, belonging to the erstwhile Rampur-Bushehar, the BJP has opted for its old warhorse and former Member of Parliament Maheshwar Singh, a scion of the erstwhile royal family from Kullu Valley, to take on “Raja Sahib”, as Mr. Virbhadra Singh is popularly known in the State.

Interestingly, both the candidates are distantly related. The constituency also includes snow-bound tribal areas of Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Bharmour and has around 1.1 million voters of whom 145,000 live in the tribal areas.

The upcoming election has become a matter of prestige for Raja Sahib as it would establish his future role in the politics of Himachal Pradesh. And surely the former Chief Minister is leaving no stone unturned to ensure his victory, giving sleepless nights to his opponent.

Initially reluctant to enter the fray as he is already an MLA, Mr. Virbhadra Singh fills in the gap for his wife and sitting MP from the seat, Pratibha Singh, who has declined to contest again. For Mr. Virbhadra Singh it is a long journey as he is vying for a parliamentary seat after a long gap of 29 years.

Maheshwar Singh is testing his luck from the seat for the fifth time -- and fourth time in a row. Mr. Virbhadra Singh had won the seat twice (in 1971 and 1980) and lost once (1977), while Mr. Maheshwar Singh won it thrice (in 1989, 1998 and 1999) and lost twice (1991 and 2004). Rajkumari Amrit Kaur of the erstwhile royal family of Kapurthala won the seat in independent India’s first elections in 1952. However, the royalty took a back seat in 1977 when trade union leader Ganga Singh Thakur, fielded by the Janata Party, won the election. This was taken further by the former Union Communications Minister Sukh Ram who won the seat for the first time in 1984 and then again in 1991 and 1996.

Mr. Virbhadra Singh has launched a vigorous campaign to reach out to the voters in almost every nook and corner. “I will emerge victorious with a big margin. The people are with me and they know that my opponent is not only weak but has done little for the area during his earlier tenures,” remarks the former Chief Minister.

However, Mr. Maheshwar Singh asserts he is confident of his victory and “the good work done by the Prem Kumar Dhumal Government would certainly help me further”. He says he started his poll campaign almost two months before his rival and this has given him an edge.

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