Virbhadra’s statue unveiling today; Sonia, Priyanka arrive in Shimla

Senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi arrived in Shimla today to attend the unveiling of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s statue on The Ridge tomorrow. The statue of the six-time Chief Minister has been erected close to the statue of YS Parmar, the first Chief Minister of the state.

Sonia Gandhi flew to Shimla from Chandigarh in a helicopter along with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, while Priyanka Gandhi came by road from Chandigarh. “Sachin Pilot and Deepender Hooda are also coming to attend the function. They will reach Shimla tomorrow morning. Former AICC in-charge for Himachal Rajeev Shukla has already arrived,” said Yashwant Chhajta, Vice-Chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Authority. AICC in-charge of Congress affairs in Himachal Rajni Patil is already in Shimla for the function.

According to Congress leaders, Sonia Gandhi is attending a public function after several years. “That she has agreed to come for the function underlines the stature of late Virbhadra Singh and the reputation he enjoyed among the party’s central leaders,” said Chhajta. He added, “In fact, one of the reasons why this function was postponed (it was originally scheduled for June 23) was that Sonia Gandhi was not available on that date. She had expressed her desire to attend the function and, hence, it was shifted to a later date when she could attend it.”

Apart from the party’s central leaders and the state leadership, a large number of party workers and common people from across the state are expected to attend the function. “Virbhadra Singh was the tallest leader of the state and had influence in every part of it. People will come in large numbers from everywhere to pay tributes to the departed leader,” said Ramesh Verma, a party worker.

After the function, the focus is likely to shift to reconstituting the dissolved Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) and finalising the new HPCC president. A few days back, Sukhu had said that the process to reconstitute the party organisation had got delayed a bit due to this function. “The organsiation, in all likelihood, will be in place by the end of October,” he had said.