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Shimla: Congress pays emotional tribute to Virbhadra on his first death anniversary
The Congress organised a prayer meeting at the Gaiety Theatre and observed his death anniversary as ‘Sankalp Diwas’
Himachal Pradesh’s Congress unit and people from all walks of life paid an emotional tribute to veteran leader and six-time former chief minister Virbhadra Singh on his first death anniversary on Friday.
Virbhadra, the longest-serving CM of Himachal, had died on this day last year due to post-Covid complications.
The Congress organised a prayer meeting at the Gaiety Theatre and observed his death anniversary as ‘Sankalp Diwas’. HP Congress president and Virbhadra’s wife Pratibha Singh and son Vikramaditya expressed gratitude to the people for the immense love they had showered for their leader.
Former director of the department of languages and culture Prem Sharma said, “Virbhadra did not discriminate against anyone and that is why the entire state was remembering the tallest leader of HP and paying tributes to him.” Sarabjit Singh Bobby, who runs free langar service at the local cancer hospital, recalled the moments of inauguration of his community kitchen.
Virbhadra was born on June 23, 1934, in the Royal Family of Rampur Bushahr. He was educated at Colonel Brown Cambridge School, Dehradun, St Edward’s School, Shimla and Bishop Cotton School, Shimla and later obtained a BA honours degree from St Stephen’s College, Delhi.
He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1962 at the age of 26. Fondly called Raja Sahib, he was elected to the state Vidhan Sabha for nine terms.
He was elected to Lok Sabha five times and served as a Union minister in Indira Gandhi and Manmohan Singh governments.
His death left a void in Himachal politics and a leadership crisis in the state’s Congress unit.
Vikramaditya said at the Congress headquarters in Shimla that this was an opportunity to remember his work done in every area of Himachal. “I will continue to follow the path shown by my late father,” he said, adding that a statue of Virbhadra Singh will be installed on The Ridge.
“Founder CM Yashwant Singh Parmar is remembered as the architect of Himachal, while Virbhadra Singh is the architect of modern Himachal,” he said.
Pratibha thanked the people of the state for their love and respect for Virbhadra.
