Denying that no Modi wave was blowing in the State, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Sunday claimed that the Congress party would win three out of the four parliamentary seats in the hill State.

Also expressing surprise on how the media was projecting NDA prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi “out of proportion”, he said, “There is no Modi wave in the State and the Congress  party is poised to win at least three of the four parliamentary seats from the State which had been the traditional stronghold of the party since Independence.” The Chief Minister maintained that the Election Commission should take cognisance of the huge expenditure being incurred for projecting the image of Modi.

Devoting most of his time, in the press conference organised for his wife and sitting Mandi MP Pratibha Singh, to take on Gujarat Chief Minister Modi, Singh did not spare his predecessor Prem Kumar Dhumal and his two sons in his attack on the rivals. He said that thorough investigation was being made into the allegations of corruption against Dhumals.

Sitting Congress MP Pratibha Singh has been seeking re-election against the BJP’s Ram Swaroop Sharma who has come from the RSS cadre and had been working in different capacities in the Government and the BJP organisation. In the byelection held last year Pratibha Singh had won by a margin of over 1,36,000 votes  defeating the BJP candidate, Jai Ram Thakur.

“The main fight in Himachal is between the Congress and the BJP. Other parties have little relevance in the hilly State. It will not be surprising if the Congress won all the four seats as Congress is giving tough fight in all the four seats of Mandi, Kangra, Hamirpur and Shimla. We have come to power with a big majority last year,” the CM pointed out. Responding to a query on the issue of corruption which had assumed cancerous proportions in the State and across the country, he retorted, “I think it is not the issue.”

On the issue of bad state of roads in State, particularly Kiratpur-Bilaspur portion of the national highway, which was deterring tourists to visit the panoramic hill State and a large number of tourists were diverting to other hill stations due to deplorable network of roads, the Chief Minister said he was aware of the problem. “Strict instructions have been issued to the concerned officials and accountability would be fixed and action would be initiated against the erring and negligent officials,” he made it clear.