Dharamsala: Graft allegations dominated poll campaign

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, May 31

The election campaign for four Lok Sabha seats and six Assembly constituencies that ended in the state yesterday was more of a slugfest of corruption allegations between the ruling Congress and the rebel MLAs. Both sides made veiled attacks against each other on the issue of corruption without making any specific reference.

During various rallies at Dharamsala, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu targeted the rebel Congress MLAs by alleging that they were part of land mafia. He alleged that rebel MLA Sudhir Sharma bought 82 properties in and around Dharamsala in the name of his driver. The CM said he would soon expose the land deals of the rebel MLAs and wealth allegedly accumulated by them illegally. The CM made veiled attacks without making a specific reference with regard to land deals of the MLAs.

Earlier, the CM had openly alleged that the rebel MLAs had taken Rs 15 crore each from for deserting the Congress and joining the BJP. Following the CM’s remarks, the rebel MLAs sent him a defamation notice. Sudhir Sharma, former Congress MLA from Dharamsala who is now the BJP candidate for the byelection, had also filed a criminal complaint in court against the CM over these allegations.

The rebel MLAs, on the other hand, have targeted the government over alleged corruption in various cases. Sudhir Sharma had taken up the issue of the Energy Management Company formed by the Congress government, alleging that the entity was made to sell about 5,000 million units of surplus power of the state through a private consultant. He had alleged that surplus energy in the state was earlier being sold by the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Ltd (HPSEBL).

The current Board Chairman had written to the state government that the formation of the Energy Management Company by was an “illegal” act.

The rebel Congress MLAs have also been referring to a stone crusher in Hamirpur district, alleging that the government had given special concessions to the unit. They had taken up the issue , along with the BJP, without specifically referring to the unit in question. They have also been threatening to expose corruption in various business dealings in established industrial areas of the state, specifically the Baddi belt in Solan district.

It has been generally seen in the state that allegations of corruption are levelled during elections, but rarely are these probed after that.

During the last Assembly elections, the Congress had alleged large corruption in disbursal of loans by the Kangra Central Cooperative Bank and the constable recruitment during the BJP regime. Neither of these cases were probed by the investigating agencies.