As Himachal Pradesh goes to the polls on February 26, former Union communication minister Sukh Ram and his party, the Himachal Vikas Congress, have once again emerged as its key players.

Although the Himachal Vikas Congress was barely six months old during the 1998 state election, Sukh Ram held the balance of power in a fractured verdict. His party aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party, tipping the scale in their favour as opposed to the Congress.

A former Congressman, he would have preferred a Congress government but his reservations about chief ministerial aspirant Virbhadra Singh came in the way. Sukh Ram felt Singh was responsible for the CBI raids on his house that allegedly implicated him in cases of corruption.

In July 2002, a Delhi court convicted him in a corruption case in which he was accused of causing a loss of about Rs 16.8 million (Rs 1.68 crore) to the government while awarding a telecom contract to a private firm.

In an exclusive interview with Chief Correspondent Onkar Singh, Sukh Ram said he saw a Jammu and Kashmir-like situation in HP, where his party would play a decisive say in the making of the new chief minister.

Do you think the Himachal Vikas Congress will make a major impact in the state assembly election?

My party, the Himachal Vikas Congress, is emerging as a third force in the state. Though our party is barely six years old we hope to do better than last time. We are the only party that has offered a solution to the present financial crisis in the state. I have addressed a number of rallies in various parts of the state and we are getting tremendous response. This response is giving jitters to the Congress as well as the BJP. Besides the number of unemployed youth in the state has almost doubled.

What kind of financial crisis are you talking about?

The state owes Rs 15,000 crore to the Government of India and Reserve Bank of India. Eightyfive per cent of the state's budget goes in paying salaries to government employees and meeting other expenditure. Whatever development work is being done is done after taking loans from banks and financial institutions.

Even establishment expenses are being met from loans. Pensions to widows and the aged have not been paid for months. In fact, these pensions are being discontinued. This should give you a clear idea of the financial crunch Himachal Pradesh is going through. Two universities in the state are not able to function properly. Two colleges in Palampur had to be shut down due to shortage of funds.

Politics in Himachal Pradesh is based on development -- and for that you need money. Where will you get that money from is a million rupee question. Nobody is prepared to give loans to Himachal Pradesh as we have already exceeded our limit along with four other states.

But the BJP is in power in Himachal Pradesh and they have their government at the Centre.

You would be surprised to know the list of five states that have exceeded their loan limits has been prepared by the Union government. When the Planning Commission releases funds to the states they have to fulfil certain conditions. The states are expected to generate their own resources. The state is not being able to do that. If the loans stop then we will not be in a position to pay salaries to government employees. If they have pulled along so far it is because they had their own government at the Centre and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee went out of his way to help the state.

You announced your party would contest elections on its own. Now you are talking to both the BJP and Congress.

We are talking to both parties. We would go with the party that arrives at a reasonable understanding with the HVC. Whichever party agrees to give us more seats would have our support. Since 80 per cent of our party members come from the Congress, we would naturally like to have an alliance with the Congress. But we have kept our options open. We can have an alliance with the BJP as well. Whoever offers a respectable seat sharing agreement we will go with that party.

Is it true you are asking for 23 seats from the BJP, and 18 from the Congress?

This is incorrect. We have not given any list to either the Congress or the BJP. Right now we are talking to both parties. We are in an advanced stage of negotiations. Right now we are not discussing how many seats and where.

How many seats will your party contest in the event you have no understanding with either party?

If talks fail then my party will contest all seats with the help of other parties in the Third Front. It includes the HVC, CPI, CPM, Janata Dal (United), Janata Dal (S). Then we have Ram Vilas Paswan's party as well. All these parties will contest 16 seats. The HVC will put up candidates for the remaining seats.

Will you get a majority if you contest with the Third Front?

I have been touring Himachal Pradesh for the last four weeks. Wherever I have gone we have got tremendous response. The people are sick and tired of the BJP and they want to try our party.

Why should people vote for your party?

My biggest wealth in the state is my credibility. The people of my state have faith in me. They know what I say I do. They have experienced a major transformation in the field of telecommunication. This telecom revolution took place when I was  Union minister for communication in the Narasimha Rao government. The Congress and BJP have not been able to deliver their promises.

Is it true you offered to support the Congress to form a government if they changed the [state] leader after the 1998 election?

Since I had a 35-year long association with the Congress, it was natural for me to support the party. I told them if they agreed to change the leader and made anyone else chief minister other than Virbhadra Singh who conspired to get me implicated in false corruption cases, then I would support them. But they did not accept my offer.

Do you still dream of becoming chief minister?

In politics there is nothing wrong in aspiring for a higher post. One of the main reason for Virbhadra Singh's annoyance with me is I challenged his leadership and forced him to go in for a division of votes amongst Congress MLAs. I foresee a Kashmir-like situation in our state where we could play a pivotal role in the formation of the new government. It is possible the HVC would have its own chief minister.