Shimla: Virbhadra loyalist MLAs from politically significant Kangra district targeted Transport Minister GS Bali at the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting yesterday for interfering in their Assembly segments.
The meeting, held in the presence of AICC general secretary Sushil Kumar Shinde and secretary Ranjeet Ranjan here, saw the Virbhadra camp targeting Bali and HP Congress Committee president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu as part of their strategy. A majority of the legislators, including Sanjay Rattan, Jagjivan Pal, Neeraj Bharti and Yadvinder Goma hit out at Bali for interfering in their constituencies and projecting leaders against them.
Incidentally, Pawan Kajal, Independent MLA from Kangra and now associate Congress member, also lodged a protest that Bali was interfering in his segment and not taking him into confidence.
The importance of Kangra was at full play as the MLAs also demanded that Virbhadra should be projected as the face of the party and the elections be fought under his leadership. Legislators, including Rakesh Kalia from Una and Bamber Thakur from Bilaspur, vociferously made a demand to project a single face, considering Virbhadra’s popularity and wide mass base.