CM meets Dhumal at Oak-Over

A day after he took over as chief minister for a record sixth time, Congress leader Virbhadra Singh on Wednesday called on former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and exchanged views on issues relating to the state's development.

The two leaders met for more than half an hour. "The meeting was purely a courtesy call and I thanked him for visiting me," Dhumal said while confirming the meeting.

Only two days ago on Monday, Dhumal was elected as the leader of the BJP's 26-member Legislature party.

Sources said Virbhadra sought Dhumal's constructive support in running the state's affairs. The Congress has won 36 seats in the elections, just one more than the two-third majority. With one MLA set to be chosen as the Speaker in the next Assembly session set to begin at Dharamshala on January 2012, the Congress numbers will just meet the simply majority.

"I congratulated Virbhadra Singhji for forming the government and assured him of the BJP's constructive support. Himachal Pradesh has progressed very well over the past few years, and we had tried to do our best. Now, as the people have given the Congress the opportunity to carry forward this pace of development, I wished him (Virbhadra) good luck," Dhumal said.

The two leaders last met at the Raj Bhawan during Diwali.

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