The unity or the lack of it among Congress leaders was literally out in the open on Sunday as PCC president Kaul Singh Thakur shared the dias with Union Minister Virbhadra Singh after a long time at a rally in Mandi district. While the leaders refrained from hitting out at each others chief ministerial ambitions at the rally in Balh,supporters exchanged slogans. Local MLA Prakash Chaudhry had a hard time maintaining order and he had to issue a stern warning to control the crowd. The slogan shouting,however,did not escape the attention of the leaders on stage. Slogans will not help in deciding on who would be the states next chief minister as only elected MLAs will get an opportunity to decide their leader. Its Congress president Sonia Gandhi who will have a final word on the issue, PCC president Kaul Singh Thakur said. To counter Thakurs views,Virbhadra Singh said that unless the party wins 40 to 45 seats in the Assembly elections,it cannot discuss as to who would occupy the chief ministers chair. If the tickets are distributed irrationally as had happened in 2007 in Himachal Pradesh and later in Punjab,UP and Uttarakand,the party will find the ground very slippery, he said. The two leaders,however,joined hands to slam the BJP government over corruption. Its the worst regime and is neck-deep in corruption and surrounded by the mafia raj. The lands in Himachal Pradesh have been sold to the outsiders and there is disillusionment among the people,Virbhadra said. The PCC president,on the other hand,accused the BJP of diverting public attentions from the main issue of corruption and land scams by raking up the issue of creating new districts. Even during last BJP regime,Dhumal appointed five Additional DCs to mislead the people on districts. Now again,the ghost is out, Thakur said. He opposed the creation of new districts,claiming that Himachal cant afford such a huge financial burden. Moreover,he wondered,as to why the BJP government had slept for four and half years if it was serious about the issue.
