Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh will take the post again if Congress wins the Assembly elections in the state, party Vice President Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday, as he began the campaign ahead of polls later this year.

“...Virbhadra Singh has put his heart and soul in taking development to every nook and corner of the state,” Gandhi said at the “Vijay se Vikas” rally in Mandi. “Virbhadra Singhji, you became chief minister six times and I assure that you would become chief minister for the seventh time also and the entire Congress party stands behind you.”

Gandhi also criticised the Centre for poor implementation of the Goods and Services Tax and compared the jobs statistics from Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. He claimed Himachal Pradesh generated 70,000 jobs during the last five years, compared with 10,000 in Gujarat, The Indian Express reported.

Singh’s disproportionate assets case

In his own rally in the state on October 3, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hit out at the ruling Congress government, saying it is a “jamaanati sarkar” (a government on bail), in an apparent reference to Singh, who is facing inquiry from the Central Bureau of Investigation in a disproportionate assets case.

In July, the Delhi High Court had dismissed a plea filed by Singh and his family seeking to quash a case of money laundering against them. They were granted bail in May by a special CBI court. Singh is accused of amassing assets worth Rs 10 crore, which were disproportionate to his income between 2009 and 2011, when he was a union minister. He was also charged with forgery and corruption by the CBI.