Independent MLA from Chopal joins BJP

Tribune News Service

Nerwa (Shimla), March 26

Independent Balbir Singh Verma of the Chopal Vikas Manch merged his party with the BJP in a rally here today.

Verma’s joining with the BJP came as a shot in the arm for the opposition in the upper Shimla belt because no BJP MLA has ever won Chopal since 1990. But it has upset the applecart of party ticket hopefuls. Bindal and other speakers termed the rally as one of the biggest.

All speakers, including state BJP president Satpal Singh Satti, Shimla BJP MP Virender Kashyap, Nahan BJP legislator Rajiv Bindal, projected Leader of the Opposition PK Dhumal as the future Chief Minister. He was the main speaker at the rally staged by Verma, a builder, to show his “money power and strength” by roping in a large crowd.

Dhumal made no personal attack against Virbhadra Singh, but he termed Verma-led Chopal Vikas Manch as a beginning of cleansing of Himachal from “drug-mining-forest mafia raj”.

“There are more pro-Congress MLAs ready to join the BJP and the end of the corrupt Congress Raj is imminent,” he asserted at the rally without naming them. “We will abolish RUSA in colleges as it has been opposed by both teachers and students,” Dhumal said.

“The Congress regime is anti-poor, anti-employee and anti-pensioner. On the other, there are 50 chairmen and vice-chairmen and nobody knows what work they are doing,” he claimed.

Making a veiled reference to Industry Minister Mukesh Agnihotri in connection with the mining in the border areas of Una and Kangra, Satti said the Virbhadra regime was being run by the mining mafias, who were selling sands and minerals outside the state while a poor person who extracted to build his house, was being challaned.

Satti charged Virbhdra’s move to shift the state capital to Dharamsala as a ploy to hide his failures of his four-year term. He remained busy in his court cases filed by the CBI and the ED and the development took a backseat, he alleged.

Virender Kashyap invoked deities to woo voters saying that the state was being run on Central schemes and the BJP would soon form the government under the leadership of Dhumal.

After announcing the merger of his Vikas Manch with the BJP, Verma attacked Virbhadra Singh saying that funds meant for Chopal were diverted to Rohru and Rampur.

“It was at my initiative that the Chopal witnessed development and now it will be after 27 years that the BJP would have its MLA from here soon ”, he claimed and termed BJP as the largest party in India.

The BJP MLAs Suresh Bhardwaj, Rajiv Saijal, Hans Raj, Vikram Jaryal and former horticulture minister Narender Bragta, Chandramohan Thakur, local Chopal BJP leaders Seema Mehta, Shashi Dutt Sharma, Amit Chauhan and others were present.