Virbhadra Singh says 'betrayal' by some Congress leaders cost party seats in Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls

Nahan: Senior Congress leader and six-time Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh on Sunday said the “betrayal” by some Congress leaders had led to the party’s defeat in its traditional stronghold of Sirmaur district in the state Assembly polls. Had some leaders not stabbed the party in the back, the Congress would have won two more Assembly seats in Sirmaur district, said Singh while addressing a district-level meet of party workers at Nahan. [caption id=“attachment_3872267” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh. PTI[/caption] “I have forgiven those leaders who caused huge damage to the party by making petty mistakes and call upon all the workers to put up a united fight to defeat the BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections,” he said. The success of “Mission-2019” would depend solely on party workers, he added. A strong and united fight can be put up by Congress workers and there is no space for internal differences, he said. The Congress’ state in-charge Rajni Patil claimed the differences between leaders had been sorted out and the party was fully united. “All the differences between party leaders have been resolved and the morale of the party workers in the state is high," she said. The party is gearing up to win all four Lok Sabha seats, she added. Lashing out at the Modi government, she alleged it was dividing people on religious lines. The Modi government has drawn a dividing line even between Muslim men and women, she said. State Congress chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu showered praise on Virbhadra Singh for “showing large-heartedness” and forgiving party workers for their ‘mistakes’.  He said Virbhadra Singh was the most respected leader of the party in the state. Sukhu also attacked the Modi government for calling Congress a ‘corrupt party’ while ignoring the fact that all the stringent anti-corruption laws were enacted by Congress governments. Congress legislature party leader Mukesh Agnihotri exhorted party workers to stand united and defeat the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.