Virbhadra to guide party in 2017 Assembly polls

Only goal of Congress is to make Mission Repeat successful in the next Assembly polls under the leadership of Virbhadra Singh

Ignoring the salvos being fired at him by the loyalists of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for the last two days, Himachal Pradesh Congress chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukkhu on Monday said the party would achieve its 'Mission Repeat' in the 2017 Assembly polls under the guidance of Virbhadra.

Addressing the General House of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), he said, "Our only goal is to make Mission Repeat successful in the next Assembly polls under the leadership of Virbhadra Singh and we have no doubt that it would be achieved."

Sukkhu said the next General House meeting would be convened at Dharamsala and a "massive rally" would be taken out to hail the achievements of the state government.

Another rally would be taken out in Kangra district on the completion of four years of the Congress government in the state on December 25, he added.

Sukkhu claimed that the 'Modi ke Bol, Jumle ke Dhol' campaign to expose the the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a "great success" and added that all the anti-corruption laws in the country were enacted by the Congress governments and Modi had "no role" in it.

Speaking at the meeting, Virbhadra claimed that his government had implemented "90 per cent" of its poll promises and that the government and the party were "working together".

However, he opined that state Congress chiefs should be "elected" as it would strengthen the party.

Congress general secretary Ambika Soni called upon the party workers to "remain united" to achieve Mission Repeat and ensure that the party retained power in the state.

She said there would be no quota system in allocation of party tickets and only those with a "clean image" would get them.

Deputy Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma said the coordination between the party and the state government was "good" and asked the workers to "expose the failures" of the NDA government.

He said it was a "matter of concern" that the RSS was "trying to control" the educational institutions.