Himachal Pradesh elections: Who is Virbhadra Singh?

The veteran leader entered the Lok Sabha in 1962 and repeated that success in the 1967 and 1971 elections. His wife, Pratibha Singh, is also a politician and was elected to the Lok Sabha in the 2004 elections.

Virbhadra Singh came to the limelight when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi made him the deputy Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation in 1976. In 1980, he was made the Industries Minister, while during the UPA, Singh took charge of the Steel ministry. However, for a brief term, he was made the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises minister and quit the post in 2012 when he was made the CM of Himachal Pradesh.

However, charges of corruption and misuse of power are not new to Singh. Till now, he has managed to survive most of the controversies either by his sheer grit to fight back legally or by politically banking on his mass base.

The senior politician is presently embroiled in a disproportionate assets case. A CBI FIR has been lodged against him and his family, including wife Pratibha Singh, relating to his alleged assets of Rs 6.03 crore acquired during his term as Union minister in 2009-12. Singh, however, has refuted all charges as “mala fide” and claimed he got the assets by selling apples grown in his orchards.

The CM has four daughters and a son – Vikramaditya Singh, who is set to make his political debut this year and contest the November 9 assembly elections from Shimla (Rural).