Dhumal says BJP not satisfied with CM's reply

Shimla, Mar 17 (UNI) Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister P K Dhumal today asserted the BJP was not satisfied with Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's reply on the Budget proposals for 2007-08, saying he did not take into consideration the suggestions made by the opposition.

''Mr Singh's reply was quite similar in tone and tenor adopted by his ministers during their speeches on the Budget proposals,'' he said at a press conference here soon after the Chief minister's reply on the proposals.

Mr Dhumal said neither did he make any new announcements nor did he take into consideration the suggestions made by the opposition members. ''He should not have shown the contempt to our suggestions as he did.'' Instead of focusing the discussion on the Budget it was the fear of the chargesheet and the Congress' defeat in Punjab and Uttarakhand polls, which was reflected in the ruling party members speeches.

He said it was a matter of concern that wrong and conflicting figures had been quoted in the Governor's address and the chief minister's budget speech, which constituted the two most important documents of any government.

The chief minister had also given conflicting figures of outstanding borrowings during the BJP tenure, whereas the fact was that the figure stood at Rs 11,951 crore at the end of their tenure, he said.

The former chief minister said Mr Singh should also have clarified on the money allotted for the construction of buildings for the colleges opened by the state government during the year.

The Budget speech said it was Rs three crore per new college, while in truth it was only Rs two crore, he said.

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