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Virbhadra Singh insists on continuing as Himachal CM

SHIMLA: Despite the State still being bound by the electoral code of conduct, the Himachal Government went for a routine Cabinet meeting in the State Secretariat here on Monday.

Although Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had asserted in a media interaction two days ago that he would not hesitate to take decisions on policy matters and framing new laws, nothing of the sort happened on Monday.

The Chief Minister has been insisting on sitting in office even if his party runs into a defeat since according to him the term of the Assembly is not over yet.

He cited an instance in Tamil Nadu where two elected Assemblies had simultaneously existed once.

The Opposition and political analysts including some legal experts have expressed surprise at the Chief Minister’s statement and called it anti-democratic.

The BJP has already approached the Governor requesting dissolution of the present Assembly to facilitate a smooth takeover by the members of the new House who would be declared elected later this week.

According to inside sources, a majority of the Ministers on Monday advised the Chief Minister to sit in the Opposition in case the party loses the election.

Some Cabinet Ministers also recommended withdrawal of the petition filed in the High Court by Revenue Minister Sat Mahajan for putting off the counting of votes till March. He has pleaded that by then the present government would get two more months to rule and complete its pending development works. “We are not a regional party which is at the whims and fancies of a State chieftain; we have a high command and it would not allow anyone to go against the basic spirit of democracy,” said a senior Congress leader on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the Chief Electoral Officer of Himachal Pradesh, Manisha Nanda, said here on Monday that Genesys software training for simultaneous counting of votes polled in the EVMs would be organised at Dharamsala on Tuesday and at Mandi on Wednesday. She said that fast flow of election results would be ensured on Friday through the Genesys software and round-wise counting information from the returning officers would reach the district headquarters swiftly.

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