Virbhadra Singh’s ‘Statue of Congress Disunity’: How NOC Divided Party Leadership in Himachal Pradesh

The Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu government’s denial to give a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to install a six-ft-tall statue of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh at Shimla’s famous Ridge Road seems to have deepened the fissures among the Congress leadership in Himachal Pradesh.

The late CM’s son, Vikramaditya Singh, broke down in Shimla on Wednesday, slamming the Sukhu government for not giving even a small piece of land for the statue of the former six-time CM of the state. Singh said he had raised the issue with the CM and the Congress high command, but to no avail, which left the family feeling deeply hurt and humiliated. Vikramaditya has quit as a minister in the state.

News18 has learnt that the Sukhu government had earlier said that Singh’s statue would come up on Ridge Road by June 23 last year on the occasion of his birth anniversary. The Ridge Maidan has statues of prominent leaders namely Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the first CM of Himachal Pradesh, Yashwant Singh Parmar. Even the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had supported the move.

The Shimla Municipal Corporation had also begun work last year to ensure the statue comes up here.

However, inexplicably, the Sukhu government later denied an NOC. Ultimately, the statue came up at Sainj, about 100 km away from Shimla after a citizen donated land for it.

Singh’s family, including Pratibha Singh and Vikramaditya Singh, attended that function, but the Chief Minister was absent.

THE LONG-STANDING RIVALRY

Sukhu, as the state party president, and Singh had a long-standing rivalry in the Congress, with Singh on many occasions refusing to attend party meetings if Sukhu was present. Singh had once said in 2018 that the party’s popularity had come down under Sukhu and termed the latter’s functioning as “suicidal" for the party.

Later, Pratibha Singh took over as the state Congress chief, but her case was overlooked for the CM’s post and the high command chose Sukhu as the CM. Relations have been strained between Singh’s family and the CM ever since.

The emotional issue of the former CM statue has been the final straw for the war in the Congress in Himachal Pradesh.