Soon after the timber scam broke out in Himachal Pradesh in 1983, the then Prime Minister and Congress President Indira Gandhi and her son and general secretary Rajiv Gandhi decided to change the then Chief Minister Ram Lal Thakur. 

Accordingly, then Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting HKL Bhagat was sent as an observer with a mandate to get a resolution passed by the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) to authorise the party high command to take a decision. 

Bhagat then announced that the high command wanted Virbhadra Singh to replace Thakur. 

The outgoing Chief Minister then proposed Virbhadra Singh's name that was seconded by Public Works Minister Sukh Ram, one of the contenders for the state's top post.

Raja Sahib then took the oath as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh for the first time. And as it said, the rest is history. 

Soon after, Virbhadra Singh launched a vigorous drive against the forest mafia, and banned felling of green tress three years later. The ban lasted more than two decades, and even now, forest produce cannot be used to make apple boxes in the state.

Virbhadra Singh went on to govern the hill state for six terms and in between also served as the Union Minister when the Congress was out of power in Himachal Pradesh. 

In his over-half-a-century-long political career, Virbhadra faced electoral defeat only on two occasions. He had to taste defeat at the hands of former CM Ram Lal Thakur when he lost the Assembly election from Jubbal-Kotkhai in 1990 even though Virbhadra made it to the Assembly as he had also contested from Rohru. He also lost one Lok Sabha election from Mandi in 1977 at the hands of Ganga Singh of the Janata Party.

Virbhadra Singh's unflinching loyalty to the Congress and commitment to development of Himachal Pradesh remained unparalleled.

He died in Shimla on 8 July 2021 after a prolonged illness at the age of 87.

All the developments have been caught in the pictures posted along with the write-up.

To be continued....