Virbhadra Singh does not face any challenge like the dissidents had unsuccessfully tried to pose him before the polls. They have got a share in power. The BJP is also not in a position or has the capacity, to threaten the stability of his government. The party stands divided and demoralized.

Making predictions in politics is always hazardous. Virbhadra Singh is not likely to witness any inner-party upheaval till the 2014 Lok Sabha poll. It is, however, difficult to predict the health of the ruling party if the Congress does not return to power at the Centre after the Lok Sabha polls. However, even if any anti-Virbhadra Singh inner-party upheaval takes place in the event of the Congress losing power at the Centre, his overwhelming support in the Congress legislature party may make his opponents extremely difficult to dethrone him.

In sharp contrast to the Congress, the health of the BJP has suffered a further dip. The party had faced a revolt before the Assembly polls. The rebels made inroads into BJP’s vote bank which also contributed to the party’s defeat in the Assembly elections At one stage, the intervention of the central leadership seemed to have brought about a pre-poll patch-up between the feuding groups led by the outgoing chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and the former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar. The deep-rooted differences between the two leaders, however, made the so-called patch-up illusionary. The two camps continue to be at loggerheads. The party’s organizational health also continues to be poor.

The two tasks to accomplish which the Virbhadra Singh ministry needs to take speedy measures are to fulfill the party’s election promises and improve governance. The chief minister has made a beginning by initiating steps to putting the debt-ridden state’s economy back on the rails. He has met the central leaders requesting for a special economic package to the state and also restoration of the industrial incentives the Centre had prematurely scrapped.

The ministry has also initiated action to fulfill another promise included in the party’s election agenda. It has made a beginning by reversing some of the decisions of its predecessor BJP government. In the priority list are the shady land deals.

The first concrete step in this direction is the cancellation of the lease of the land allotted to Baba Ram Dev’s Patanjali Yogpeeth. The government has taken possession of the 28 acres of land allotted by the Dhumal government to the Yogpeeth in Solan district for a payment of Rs.17 lakh and a 99-year lease at a token annual fee of Rs. One. The land worth over Rs.35 crore was originally gifted by Maharaja of Patiala, in 1956 to create a facility for children.

The land’s allotment to the Yogpeeth by the Dhumal government was nothing but violation of the conditions laid down by its donor. It was political nepotism. The Yogpeeth is claimed to be a Trust producing and manufacturing ayurvedic medicines and teaching yoga. But the production activities of the Patanjali Yogpeeth have been commercial and state sponsorship gives it –and thereby its products- a certain underserved stamp of approval. The Trust is flushed with money. Baba Ramdev allegedly uses it for his political activities. The Yoga camps organized by Ram Dev are also commercial exercises. Their participants have to pay large fees adding a few crores to its coffers.

History has recorded how religions are misused for vested personal and political interests. But Ramdev’s case is an example of how the wily persons claiming to be saints and serving the society, accumulate huge amounts through self-serving ways including floating of Trusts. They then start indulging in politics and try to climb the power ladder.

According to the Revenue Minister Kaul Singh, the cancellation of the Solan land allotted to Ram Dev’s Trust is to be followed by probe into “all the shady land deals” of the Dhumal regime. The chargesheet which the Congress had submitted to the higher authorities against the Dhumal government had, besides the activities of the land mafia in the state, also alleged rampant corruption in the BJP government. Even the BJP dissidents had raised their voice against corruption and the activities of the land mafia under the Dhumal government.

The state government’s main target has so far been to reverse some of the decisions of its predecessor BJP government which the ruling party had promised in its election manifesto. The bigger challenge before the Virbhadra Singh government is, however, to strengthen the infrastructure, particularly improving the dilapidated road network, the carrier of civilisation.

No doubt, HImachal has, over the years, made commendable progress in various fields during the successive Congress and BJP governments. But there has been lop-sided development in some of the arenas, particularly education. Once rated high on the literacy front, the state has taken a sharp-dip in the learning levels. The Annual Status of Education Report 2012 for Himachal Pradesh released last week shows that the class V students, who could read class II level test, had gone down from 82.3 per cent to 72.8 per cent during 2007-2012 (when the BJP was in power). Similarly, the percentage of students in Class V, who could solve three digit problems, declined from 86.9 per cent to 48.7 per cent.

Apart from correcting such lop-sided developments, what is needed is to ensure that the benefits of the social welfare schemes reach the intended beneficiaries. For this, the state will have to strengthen the delivery system. Virbhadra Singh will have to ensure speedy action as only a year is left for the crucial 2014 Lok Sabha polls. (IPA Service)