Dhumal asks Himachal CM to seek fresh mandate

Hamirpur, June 5 (UNI) Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhuaml today sought Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's resignation on moral grounds, saying he should seek a fresh mandate from the people of the state.

''The BJP's victory in the Hamirpur parliamentary seat is a mandate against the state government's misrule and widespread corruption during the last four years,'' he said while talking to UNI here.

Mr Dhumal said now that the people of the Hamirpur constituency, spread over 17 assembly segments, had rejected the Congress it would only be proper to seek a fresh mandate from the people of the state.

Mr Singh should resign on moral grounds from his post following the defeat of the Congress candidate in the elections, which were held just months before the state assembly elections, due in February 2008, he said.

He alleged that despite misusing the official machinery during the bypoll, the Congress government had failed to win the seat, indicating its declining popularity graph.

He said the BJP would now begin its preparations for the state assembly elections, which were only seven months away, so as to ''root out one of the most corrupt state governments ever.'' UNI