Feud in Kullu royal family over employment gets bitter

Dipender Manta

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Tribune News Service

Kullu, April 3

Family feud between Kullu royal family members grew shriller. Hiteshwar Singh, son of Kullu royal house scion and BJP leader Maheshwar Singh, launched a tirade against his uncle state Ayurveda Minister Karan Singh alleging that he deceived the youth of Banjar constituency as he failed to provide them employment as commitment made by him.

Karan Singh is the younger brother of Maheshwar Singh.

Hiteshwar Singh represents Rella ward in Banjar constituency. He defeated his arch rival and cousin Aditya Vikram Singh, the son of the state Ayurveda Minister this year during the Panchayati Raj elections. Hiteshwar has started a crusade against his uncle in an attempt to dethrone him from the Banjar constituency seat in the coming Assembly elections. He launched a scathing attack on the minister while addressing the gathering at Diyar Panchayat at Bhosa and Bakshyari villages falling under Rella ward.

“After defeat of his son, the minister forgot the commitment he made to the public. He promised the youth of the region to provide them employment in Parvati Project to gain public support during the PRI elections. But they are still out of job, which was a cruel joke with the unemployed youth”, he remarked.

He alleged that during his four-year regime no development work took place in Banjar constituency and several development works carried out under his ward were deliberately hampered with the connivance of the minister. Hiteshwar Singh is considered a strong opponent of the minister in the region, who is constantly trying to boost his political image. He threatened to disclose more about the failure of the minister.

When contacted, Ayurveda Minister Karan Singh said “Public knows the truth what development has been done in my area. Two colleges were opened. Now there is a bus stand and several schools have been upgraded or opened for the benefit the people of region.”

The minister said the statements of Hiteshwar Singh were contrary to facts and made without knowing the facts of development carried out in the area. “His father Maheshwar Singh had remained an MP and an MLA from Kullu and Hiteshwar should tell the public what development has been done by his father for the people of Banjar. I am not like his father who took benefits from Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and now he was targeting him”, he added.

Maheshwar Singh won election on a Himachal Lokhit Party seat in 2012. He merged his party with the BJP in August last year.

The rift between Maheshwar Singh and the state Ayurveda Minister grew when the state government took a decision in a Cabinet meeting to take over the Raghunath temple in Kullu. Maheshwar Singh is the chief caretaker of Raghunath temple.