Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal is hopeful about returning to power with a thumping majority. The Congress on the other hand is confident it will turn the tables on the BJP.

In an interview with Chief Correspondent Onkar Singh, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said his party would form the next government and look into charges of corruption against the Dhumal government.

The Prem Kumar Dhumal government has failed to deliver. It has failed on all fronts. The real issues would be corruption and unemployment. There has been rampant corruption in the Dhumal government.

In fact, it has become a symbol of corruption in Himachal Pradesh.

There have been many scams involving some senior ministers. The recruitment process has been highly politicised and there has been widespread misuse of power. Nepotism has reached the zenith. The abuse of power is evident from the fact that the Public Service Commission office was shifted to the chief minister's home district.

It is common knowledge jobs have been sold. Widespread discrimination prevailed in the distribution of jobs to the needy. Most of them went to BJP nominees. All records of the selection process have been destroyed within three months and not retained for future reference.

If the Congress comes to power will you investigate these scams?

Of course. There should be no doubt in this matter. Another major issue is rising unemployment in the state. The ruling party has not been able to demonstrate any vision or policy which could harness the abundant resources of the state to generate employment.

The Congress alleges the state has run into huge debts to the tune of Rs 15,000 crore. Is that true?

These are not figures [given by] the Congress party. These are official figures. I would not be surprised if the debt is more then what has been mentioned in the official records. The Dhumal government has pushed the state in a debt trap. Their fiscal mismanagement and profligacy would also be an issue in the elections.

Why did Congress refuse the offer of a tie up with Sukh Ram's Himachal Vikas Congress?

In politics when you are going in for elections there are sometimes offers for seat adjustments or alliances. We had an offer from Sukh Ram but it did not work. There were different perceptions within the Congress party. Some of our senior leaders from the state did not favour a tie up with Sukh Ram.

There are sharp differences between Vidya Stokes, president of the state Congress unit, and former chief minister Virbhadra Singh. How are you going to resolve them?

In a democratic organisation, a difference of perception or approach is bound to be there. There are times when they do get reflected in the functioning of some individuals. But this does not mean the Congress would go to the polls as a divided house. Different leaders have a different approach towards a particular issue.

In the 1998 assembly election Sukh Ram won four seats and made a dent into the Congress vote bank in another nine seats. Don't you think he could cut into your vote bank again?

I do not deny Sukh Ram's presence in the electoral fray would not harm the Congress. But he would harm the BJP as well. It would not be like the last time when he harmed only the Congress. Besides, the Himachal Vikas Congress had just been formed and he was at his peak. Then he picked up just four seats in his home district of Mandi.

Has his area of influence been neutralised?

I would say his influence has diminished substantially. We are confident the performance of the HVC and BJP would not be repeated. Because the two of them have been in power for the last five years, the anti-incumbency factor applies to both the parties.

Who would be your star campaigners in this election?

Mrs Sonia Gandhi being head of the Congress would be the star campaigner. Senior Congress leaders would also be canvassing. We have asked Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi to campaign for the party. We would try to ensure the secular vote is not divided but this is not entirely in our hand. Other parties would have to work in close coordination with the Congress to ensure this.

Our strategy would be to expose the BJP for what it is and mount an aggressive campaign.

We have leaders like Virbhadra Singh, Vidya Stokes etc. It has been the tradition of the Congress to take the view of party MLAs and then decide the chief minister. Let the elections be over and then we would address this issue.

Is it going to be an easy contest? Are you going to win the election? If so, how many seats?

I would not like to predict the number of seats we are going to win, but it would be a comfortable majority. No contest is easy but there is an edge in favour of the Congress party.