Will win Himachal and put it in your lap: Pratibha Singh to Rahul

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, September 4

Himachal Congress President Pratibha Singh on Sunday pledged to win the upcoming state assembly elections and declared that the change in the party's national fortunes would start from Himachal.

Addressing the Mehngai Pe Halla Bol rally ahead of Rahul Gandhi in the National Capital's historic Ramlila Grounds, Pratibha Singh, in the presence of Rahul, said, "We will win Himachal Pradesh and place the state in the lap of Rahul Gandhi. Change in the party's fortunes will start from Himachal. We will ensure change starts from Himachal and then sweeps the country."

Singh was among the few leaders along side Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Bahgel, former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, ex-Punjab Congress chief Partap Bajwa and the newly appointed J&K Congress president Vikar Rasul, who was called upon to address the mammoth rally where Rahul Gandhi later tore into the ruling BJP for "spreading hate and fear and benefitting two industrialists."

Referring to Rahul's upcoming Bharat Jodo yatra, Pratibha Singh said the party in Himachal would fully back the mobilisation effort on the ground and articulate the concerns of the people who are reeling under the "twin assaults of price rise and joblessness."

'We will support you in our respective states. We will raise the voices of the people on the streets and in Parliament. We tried to raise the price rise issue in Parliament but we were not given time," said the Himachal unit chief of Congress.

She also recalled PM Narendra Modi's 2014 Lok Sabha poll promises of two crore annual jobs and asked, "Eight years have passed. Where are 16 crore jobs, Mr prime minister?"

Singh spoke of the highly priced cooking gas cylinders and said, "Across the board GST had broken the backs of people and the PM does not want to listen to anything."

The Congress is into a do or die battle in the hill state which the BJP had won in 2017 bagging 44 seats in a 68 member house.

The BJP which had won 26 seats in 2012 Himachal elections posted a 10 pc jump in vote share in 2017 state polls touching 48.7 pc.

The Congress vote share in 2017 was 41.8 pc.

After the BJP won neighbouring Uttarakhand, the Congress is facing an uphill task of preventing a saffron rerun in the state.

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