Dhumal files nomination papers for Hamirpur Lok Sabha polls

Hamirpur, May 14 (UNI) Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today filed his nomination papers for Hamirpur Lok Sabha by-polls with the party declaring that he is still in the race for the state's chief ministership.

''Mr Dhumal contesting Lok Sabha election does not mean that he stands debarred from state politics or from becoming the state's chief minister,'' party's national vice president Sahib Singh Verma said at a public meeting minutes before Mr. Dhumal filed his nomination papers at the Hamirpur deputy commissioner's office here.

Mr Verma's declaration was nothing less than a morale booster for the former chief minister who was the party's unanimous choice for these parliament by-polls after he had publicly announced that he would not be contesting.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Dhumal lashed out at the Congress for their statements about BJP leadership lacking development vision, saying this was rather true of the Congress than the BJP.

''The country would not have suffered so much after so many years of independence if the Congress leaders had some vision,'' he lamented.

Referring to the Centre's failure to make policies and programmes that suited Himachal, he said the state would have progress and developed more if the policies were framed in accordance with the needs of the state.

Blaming the Virbhadra Singh for the cost escalation in the Bamsan-Ladwalati Water Supply Scheme, he said its cost had escalated to Rs 68 crore during the last four years from Rs 49 crore when the previous BJP government conceived it.

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