Serious charges levelled in House during debate over corruption

The four-day winter session of Himachal Assembly held from December 18 to 21 saw many serious issues of corruption in the state being raised.

Targeting the state bureaucracy, BJP MLA Satpal Satti said that while they were targeting each other over the issue of corruption, the real culprits were sitting pretty with no one talking about their role in it.

The debate over corruption was brought on an adjournment motion moved by BJP MLA Randhir Sharma. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu urged the Speaker to accept the adjournment motion after which the House debated corruption for two days with no other business being transacted.

Most serious allegation that the Chief Minister leveled against the previous BJP government was that they gave 150 bighas of land worth approximately Rs 123 crore to a private company in Malku Majra of Badi area of the state for Rs 1 crore 81 lakh.

The Chief Minister alleged that Jai Ram Thakur government gave additional 150 bigha land to a private company at the rate of one rupee per square metre. Now this company is dividing plots and selling the land to other industries. BJP leaders challenged the government to get the matter of corruption against them inquired as the Congress was in power in the state.

Most serious allegation that the BJP levelled against the Congress government was that the HRTC acquired a land in Nadaun Assembly constituency for over Rs 6 crore and owners of land had procured the land for just about Rs 2.6 lakh about 10 years ago. The BJP alleged that the land procured was common land which was vested in the state after the lands of former ruler of Nadaun were acquired under the Land Ceiling Act. It implied that the land acquired was actually the government land which had been acquired illegally, the BJP members alleged.

The Chief Minister countered the allegations by maintaining that the land had been acquired as per the prevailing circle rates in the area. The land value had increased as per circle rates after the road on which it was located was four-laned, the Chief Minister maintained.

The BJP, which was not prepared for the debate, found itself on the back foot during the debate as the CM linked the origin of most of the alleged corruption cases to the rule of the previous BJP government. Though the corruption allegations were levelled by both BJP and the Congress against each other which were now part of assembly record, it remains to be seen if a probe was ordered into these allegations.

The government got passed 14 Bills in the Assembly session, including the Himachal Pradesh Ceiling on Land Holdings (Amendment) Bill, 2024 which paved the way for transfer of the Land and building of Bhota Charitable Hospital which is about 30 acres land to the Jagat Singh Medical Relief Society of Radha Soami Satsang Beas a religious and spiritual organisation. The Bill was passed despite apprehensions regarding its misused being expressed by BJP MLAs, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur and the Congress Minister for Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Chander Kumar.

The session was historic from the point that National e-Vidhan Assembly (NeVA), which has linked the Himachal Assembly with national level online application for state assemblies, was launched in the session and zero hour was introduced in which the members of the House could take up any issue related to their Assembly constituency or state.