TNR Interview: ‘Won’t ever quit Congress’, says Vikramaditya amid talk of ‘split’ in party
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The Newz Radar
MANDI: Amid speculations of an internal feud in the Himachal Congress and certain sections even predicting a “split” in the party, PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh has firmly denied any intention of leaving the party.
Stressing his unwavering loyalty to the party, Vikramaditya Singh, a second-term MLA from Shimla (rural) constituency, said his father and six-time Chief Minister late Virbhadra Singh had nurtured the party for six decades during his “glorious political journey”.
Talking exclusively to The Newz Radar here, Vikramaditya said, “My father who was a six times Chief Minister, five times parliamentarian and a central minister maintained his commitment to the principles of internal democracy in the grand old party even when he encountered adverse circumstances in his political journey.”
The minister maintained that “unfounded speculations” had been cropped up by a section of people with vested interests. He vehemently refuted the rumours, asserting that they were entirely baseless. “Both me and my mother, state Congress president and Mandi MP Pratibha Singh, are loyal and committed soldiers of the party and will stay here forever in good and bad times,” asserted the young minister.
Taking a jibe at late Sukh Ram’s clan (read Mandi MLA Anil Sharma and his son Aashray Sharma), the minister said his family never believed in the principles of “aaya ram and gaya ram”.
Questioned on the recent “Hindutva” statement, he clarified that he believed that raising slogans of “Jai Shri Ram” and sporting “patkas” did not make someone a Hindu. “Moreover, we do not need any certificate of being Hindu from the BJP,” he asserted.
The minister said that he was firmly raising voice for the benefit of public in the cabinet and Vidhan Sabha irrespective of whether someone liked it or it.
Targeting PM Modi, Vikramaditya said that the Prime Minister had allegedly betrayed the people of the state, which he called his “second home”, by not giving any special relief package despite repeated requests by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, his council of ministers and the Mandi MP. “It is highly unfortunate that he did not even tweet or take to social media describing his concerns for the people of the state, which faced such deadly disaster for the first time in last over 100 years,” he said.
The minister said that the state government had so far not even received the Rs 300 crore that was promised by Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari during his visit to Manali in July this year.
Asked about the need of such a grand celebration when the state was just recovering from the recent rain disaster, the minister clarified that the programme in Dharamsala was organised to prioritise dialogue and would involve those affected by the disaster with a focus on collecting feedback of shortcomings of the government.
