A scion of the Rampur-Bushahr royal family, Virbhadra Singh or Raja Sahib as he was known, didn’t rule a kingdom, but the hearts of the people of Himachal Pradesh for nearly six decades. The six-time chief minister, nine-time state legislator and five-time member of Parliament, passed away at Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital in Shimla on Thursday.
Part of the older generation of the Congress, he began his political career at 27 with the Lok Sabha elections in 1962. He went on to serve as a member of Parliament for four more terms, though not successive, in 1967, 1971, 1980 and 2009.
Also read: Virbhadra Singh, former Himachal Pradesh CM and Congress leader, passes away
Seasoned at Centre, back to state
His first stint as chief minister was in 1983 and lasted till 1990 when he was succeeded by Shanta Kumar of the BJP. In 1983, the Congress high command was considering a change of guard in Himachal Pradesh as the government helmed by Ram Lal Thakur was in the eye of a storm for sheltering the forest mafia.
A loyalist of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Thakur was appointed Andhra Pradesh governor. It was easy to shunt him out but difficult to find an acceptable replacement. The state Congress was divided into a camp loyal to Thakur and the other opposed to him led by Sukh Ram, who was keen to become chief minister.
{{/usCountry}}A loyalist of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Thakur was appointed Andhra Pradesh governor. It was easy to shunt him out but difficult to find an acceptable replacement. The state Congress was divided into a camp loyal to Thakur and the other opposed to him led by Sukh Ram, who was keen to become chief minister.
{{/usCountry}}Virbhadra successfully contested the byelections from Thakur’s turf of Jubbal Kotkhai in 1983 and 1985 and won over his loyalists, forcing him to float the Him Jan Kranti Morcha that merged with the Janata Dal. Though Thakur defeated Virbhadra from Jubbal Kotkhai, Virbhadra survived by winning from Rohru.
Such was his popularity that he was re-elected chief minister in 1993, 2003 and 2012. He also won the Lok Sabha election in 2009 and served as Union minister of steel and later as minister of micro, small and medium enterprises.
Fighting battles, winning wars
Virbhadra survived nearly every curve ball thrown his way, including corruption charges and waning influence within the party. He fought off threats by many a party rival.
Sukh Ram posed a formidable challenge. The Congress had won 52 of the 68 assembly seats in 1993. Sukh Ram, close to then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, was still keen to become CM. He had the support of 22 legislators but Virbhadra, known for his political acumen, secured the backing of 29 MLAs along with five independents to stake claim to power, forcing then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, who was sent as an observer by the high command, to do a rethink. Virbhadra regained a foothold after Sukh Ram’s name cropped up in the telecom scam.
In 1998, Sukh Ram again threw the gauntlet at Virbhadra after floating the Himachal Vikas Congress that won five seats and helped the BJP wrest control under Prem Kumar Dhumal on March 24. The Virbhadra Singh government resigned following the withdrawal of support by the lone independent MLA. The assembly election, held along with the Lok Sabha poll, threw up a hung House.
Unmatched popularity
None of the state leaders from his party or the rival BJP were a match to Virbhadra’s public connect. Affectionate, he listened to people with compassion. “Meri janata meri sabsay badhi takat hai (People are my biggest strength),” he would say in his speeches.
Such was his public appeal that he would never campaign in his own constituency after filing his nomination papers yet he would win comfortably. His trusted lieutenants managed his constituency, while he would tour the state, leading the Congress campaign.
Rough patch in sunset years
Though Virbhadra weathered many a storm, outwitting rivals from Anand Sharma to Vidya Stokes and outmanouevring even the Congress high command simply because he was popular and could keep his flock together, he hit a rough patch in the sunset years of his political career when he was faced with charges of financial irregularities.
Sharma often asserted his proximity to the Gandhi family but Virbhadra didn’t allow him to find a toehold in state politics. Though Stokes was given the sobriquet, Indira Gandhi of Himachal, she remained the state party chief and could not fulfil Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s aspiration to see her as chief minister. The high command chose Stokes as the leader of the opposition but Virbhadra was back in control in 1993. Even former state party chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu tried to pose a challenge but eventually, Virbhadra prevailed.
His popularity forced the party high command to send him back to state and he replaced Kaul Singh Thakur as the state Congress chief and steered the party to victory in the 2012 assembly elections.
Virbhadra spent most of the time in his last tenure as CM shuttling between Delhi and Shimla, battling money laundering charges. He eventually fell out with the high command. His worries compounded when he was forced to quit as Union minister as allegations of laundering disproportionate assets by investing in LIC policies surfaced. While serving as a Union minister from May 28, 2009, to June 26, 2012, the Enforcement Directorate accused him of investing huge amounts in LIC policies in his own name and that of his family members through an agent who was later jailed. The Central Bureau of investigation also chargesheeted Virbhadra, his wife Pratibha and others in the matter though he denied the allegations.
Personal journey and legacy
Born on June 23, 1934, Virbhadra was educated at Colonel Brown Cambridge School, Dehradun, St Edward’s School, Shimla, and Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, before he graduated in English honours from St Stephen’s College, Delhi.
He was married to Ratna Kumari in 1954 and had four daughters.
He remarried in 85 and his wife, Pratibha Singh, went on to represent Mandi parliamentary constituency. Their son, Vikramaditya Singh, is the MLA from Shimla Rural, and daughter Aparajita is married to Angad Singh, the grandson of Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh.