Late Raja Sahib (Virbhadra Singh) was a strong personality and I vividly remember the events leading to his anointment as the Himachal Pradesh Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) and eventually the Chief Minister in 2012.

Months before the assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh in 2012, Raja Sahib was insisting on being appointed HPCC President and the Chief Ministerial candidate. 

But the Congress high command was unwilling to remove the then state unit Chief Kaul Singh Thakur. 

Raja Sahib was also upset with the decision to exclude him from a panel that would have shortlisted the candidates though he was named party's campaign committee chairperson. 

He immediately resigned from the panel and also made his displeasure known over the appointment of Anand Sharma as the head of the manifesto panel.

The Congress high command sought to placate him by naming his loyalist Gangu Ram Musafir as working president of the state unit but Raja Sahib remained unmoved. He hosted a lunch for his supporters in Delhi and it was attended by 12 of the party’s 23 legislators, leaders of frontal organisations and seven ex-ministers.

Being a man of principle, Raja Sahib had resigned as union minister on June 26, 2012, following a court ruling that charges were made out against him in a 23 year-old graft case. 

Sensing an opportunity about gaining a foothold in Himachal Pradesh, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), a key of the Congress, had tried to woo to Raja Sahib and had sent him feelers to lead the party in its electoral debut in the hill state.

Not only the NCP, the Trinamool Congress too had approached Raja Sahib to lead the party in Himachal Pradesh but he had reservations over joining hands with Mamata Banerjee, a junior to him in politics for many decades.

Raja Sahib turned down the offers from both the parties and remained a loyal soldier of the Congress.

Like South Indian political stalwart K Kamaraj, Raja Sahib never bowed before the Congress high command. In fact, it was the reverse. The Congress leadership had to surrender before him.

His unflinching loyalty to the Congress and commitment to development of Himachal Pradesh remained unparalleled.

To be continued....