Royal Dynasty Versus Glamour 'Queen' In Mandi: Who Is Vikramaditya Singh, Set To Take On Kangana Ranaut?

He sports a saffron scarf around his neck. His Social media posts, quite frequently, begin, or end with ‘Jai Sri Ram' chants. The two-time MLA, and state’s Public Works Minister defied party dictates to attend consecration of the Ram Mandir held at Ayodhya on January 22, 2024. He also swears his strong credentials as a Congressman and as an inheritor of its legacy.

Meet Vikramaditya Singh, 34, son of six-time former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, likely to be the Congress face challenging “Gangster” actress and BJP’s high-profile candidate Kangana Ranaut in Mandi Parliamentary constituency—currently represented by his mother Pratibha Singh, PCC president.

Day after the state's coordination committee and party’s screening committee recommended his name to the AICC high command, Singh and his mother Pratibha Singh met Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi, apparently to brief her on the party's prospects in the state.

The voting to four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh is scheduled to happen in the last phase of the general elections in June But, political temperature in Mandi has already started rising after naming of Kangana Ranaut, a Mandi-born actor—who calls herself a “Hindutva voice” in the Bollywood industry which has always treated her as “an outsider”.

Sudden change in Congress’ strategy came after Vikramaditya Singh, the party’s incharge for the Mandi Parliamentary constituency so far, was fielded to fight Ranaut head-on, politically, by playing-up a soft tactical game to defend her on controversial remarks of AICC spokesperson Supriya Shrinate.

He said, “Politics apart, Kangana is our elder sister. Anybody passing indecent or cheap remarks against her, will not be tolerated. I will be the first person to publicly defend her. But I also have some advice too. When you throw mud on others, you will get its stain on yourself.”

“This kind of double standards will not work. If you want respect, then learn to respect others. The culture of Himachal does not allow such things,” he underlines.

During her week-long ‘Jan-Sampark’ Yatra, Kangana also crossed swords with Vikramaditya Singh, who later questioned her as to what contribution she had made to Mandi so far.

“It is strange, they are questioning me about my contribution even before I am elected here. They are forgetting that they were chosen to serve and represent the people. When my turn comes after this poll, I will certainly answer this question,” she told a public gathering.

Two days back, Vikramaditya Singh picked-up her old tweet on “beef eating”.

He took to social media to say (without naming her), “Himachal is a sacred place of Gods and Goddesses, it is a land of Gods, where people who eat beef should contest elections. This is a matter of concern for our culture, which has nothing to do with politics.”

Against this backdrop, Congress was quick to tweak its election strategy on Mandi and hand-pick Vikramaditya Singh over his mother.

Singh was invited to a meeting of the state coordination committee in Delhi on Saturday where he conveyed the consensus in the party leadership to send him to Mandi for contest. The party surveys also suggested a single name i.e. Vikramaditya Singh, pointing at his winnability being the highest. Also, being a youth leader, he could give a tough challenge to " Himachal ki Beti."

“We not only conveyed him (Vikramaditya) but also took his consent to recommend his name. The Central Election Committee slated to meet this week will put its stamp on his name,” said a senior member of the coordination committee.

Born on October 17, 1989, Vikramaditya studied at Bishop Cotton School, Shimla—where his father was also an alumnus, and later went to Hansraj College and did his BA in History Honors from Delhi University in 2007. He did master's from St. Stephen's College, Delhi.

“My grooming in politics began under the best teacher i.e. my father. I never thought of taking lessons from anywhere else. My father was a stalwart, whose connection with the masses remained unparallel and unchanged in 60 years of his politics--a six-time CM, five-time MP and three-time PCC president. Despite being a king (Raja), his humility could melt any heart” says Vikramaditya.

He resolves “My father taught me a few hard lessons, even rebuked me. I am trying to carry forward his legacy with the same humility and sticking to principled politics”.

But, when the Congress government faced turmoil after crossvoting by six rebel MLAs in the Rajya Sabha poll, Vikramaditya Singh also added fuel to the fire.

He resigned as a cabinet minister in the government causing political ripples within the state's Congress party as he openly held Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu responsible for the situation that has brought the 14-month-old government to a virtual collapse.

It looked as if he was also part of the revolt against the Chief Minister to arm-twist the party for a change of leadership to save the government. There were strong speculations about him and PCC president Pratibha Singh quitting the party to join the BJP—a probability or an aborted bid, in a few days.

Sukhu survived the BJP’s topple bid in the 68-member House and high command also bailed him out ruling-out possibilities of leadership change ahead of Lok Sabha polls, to be fought ‘unitedly” against the BJP. Subsequently, Singh agreed to withdraw his resignation.

A scion of Bushahr royalty, Vikramaditya Singh was elected to the state assembly first time at the age of 28, in 2017 assembly poll, from Shimla (rural)—a constituency his father had resepented in 2012 as a Chief Minister in his sixth term. It was coincident that father and son were members of the House together –till Virbhadra Singh’s demise in July 2021.

Vikramaditya Singh had taken political plunge in 2013-2014 when he contested state youth congress election and got elected to the post. But, the election was set-aside by the party high command following complaints of irregularities. Yet, he got elected again to the post.

Vikramaditya Singh gained quite an attention when he went to Ayodhya to the Ram Temple consecration ceremony as his family had received invitation because of Virbhadra Singh having passed Anti-conversion law and also undertaken several steps to fund temple trusts in the state.

He defended his visit to Ayodhya as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “As a Hindu having faith in 'Dev Samaj', it is my responsibility to be present on the occasion and witness the 'Pran Pratishtha' of Lord Ram,” he said.

The contest in Mandi is going to become interesting and also decisive this time in the constituency mostly represented by elders and veterans alternatively by the BJP and Congress.

One of the primary challenges he will face on the ground is demoralisation of the party workers during the past 14 months of the government --a situation Pratibha Singh had herself underlined last month when she showed her unwillingness to contest. The core Congress teams have either got split in factions or disillusioned with the leadership. Then there will be the challenge of resources compared to BJP candidate Kangana Ranaut, which can't be matched.