Congress star power missing in Himachal campaign

SHIMLA: With just a week to go before Himachal votes, Congress has left CM Virbhadra Singh on his own with no star campaigner canvassing for the party in the state. Congress had identified 40 star campaigners on October 23 but the star power is still missing.

Singh has been traversing the entire state and campaigning extensively without much support from the central team. The list of 40 campaigners includes Congress president Sonia Gandhi, vice president Rahul Gandhi, former PM Manmohan Singh and younger leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot, Ashok Tanwar, Sushmita Dev and Gaurav Gogoi. So far, the party has not drawn up a detailed schedule for the campaigners. Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is in high demand in Himachal, would hold his first programme on Saturday, just three days before campaigning ends.

Congress media department in-charge Randeep Surjewala, however, dismissed the suggestion: “The whole BJP campaign is about flamboyant display of money. They should tell us where they are getting the money for posters, choppers, planes and whose money it is. In contrast, the Congress campaign is simple and straightforward.

It shows the humility of our chief minister who at 83 is traversing the length and breadth of the state by road.” While Gogoi and Vijay Inder Singla are in the state, they have organisational responsibilities at the Shimla headquarters.

The campaigning is being carried out by the CM and his wife Pratibha Singh and daughter Aparajita. While Singh has traversed all areas, he intends to wind up the campaign in his own constituency, Arki, and that of his son Vikramaditya’s Shimla (Rural). A CM confidant told ET: “There is no demand really for any star campaigner. The hold that raja saab has on the electorate is unparalleled. So we don’t really need campaigners.”