HP polls: We will easily win 45 seats, says Pratibha Singh, Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee president

According to Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee president Pratibha Singh, Congress should easily win 45 (out of 68) seats in Himachal Pradesh. Here're the excerpts from the interview:

Why will people choose Congress?
People are very annoyed with the BJP. They haven't fulfilled a single promise in five years. Be it about price rise or lack of jobs — there is a lot of resentment.


How will you create 5 lakh jobs or, for that matter, provide 300 units of free electricity in a state with high debt burden?
We have started delivering on our promises in Chhattisgarh and we will do it in Himachal as well. All this will be made clear after the results.

How many seats will Congress win?
We should easily win 45 (out of 68).

But your own state in-charge Anand Sharma has resigned.
See, within a party, minor differences might arise sometimes but we will sit together and resolve all these issues.

Won’t Virbhadra Singh’s absence hurt the Congress?
He will definitely be missed in these elections. But people will keep in mind the family legacy and the development work done by him while voting for the Congress. Now that they have given me the responsibility [of leading the party], I am going to the people, seeing to take his legacy forward.

Don’t you think people want to get rid of family legacy and pariwarvaad?
People can never overlook the development work that the late Virbhadraji undertook across Himachal Pradesh as CM.

Isn't the lack of a CM face a disadvantage for Congress?
This decision on CM will be taken by the party high command after the elections. We do not have a say in this matter.

Is AAP a threat to the Congress?
Not very much. They will have a negligible presence even post-elections.

Will you be open for a post-poll pact with AAP?
Not at all. Any pact with AAP is out of the question.