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In a major jolt to the Congress Party ahead of the Himachal Pradesh assembly polls, former Union Minister Virbhadra Singh has offered to resign as the chairman of the campaign and manifesto committee of the party. According to reports, supporters of Virbhadra Singh are extremely unhappy over the fact that the Congress Party has appointed Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma as the chairman of the Himachal Pradesh poll committee. Virbhadra Singh, considered the lone star campaigner for Congress in Himachal, is also not expected to attend the Congress strategy meeting to be held in Shimla. Singh had earlier on June 26 quit as the Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises after a Himachal Pradesh court had framed charges of corruption against him and his wife Pratibha Singh. Virbhadra Singh has previously held several national political offices and has also been the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh on five occasions, from 1983 to 1990, from 1993 to 1998 and from 2003 to 2007.

Virbhadra Singh offers to resign from Himachal poll panel