HP ministers accuse of spreading lies

Shimla, Apr 6 (UNI) Two Himachal Pradesh ministers in the Prem Kumar Dhumal government today accused former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh of spreading lies and said he is in the habit of threatening government officials while in and out of power.

State Transport Minister Kishan Kapoor and Horticulture Minister Narender Bragta, in a joint statement here, said he been spreading lies during his long political career like threatening officials while in power and out of power.

''Whether it is a case of charge sheeting an IAS officer for alleged misconduct or the thermal power project case, which he first sanctioned and subsequently suspended the concerned officer without any fault of his, it is he who has always given twisting overtones,'' they said.

The ministers said it was well known that the Mr Singh had written a letter to the then Chief Secretary threatening him not to inquire into the illegal appointments made during his chief ministership.

Mr Singh was misleading the people of the state saying that MoU regarding curtailing various posts in different government departments was signed during the previous BJP government's tenure, they said.

Referring to the funds received by the state from the Centre under the Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Development Mission (JLNRUM), they said while Mr Singh claimed that the state had received Rs 3,698 crore under the scheme, Himachal has only received Rs 21 crore so far.

Accusing the former chief minister for being neck deep in corruption, Mr Kapoor and Mr Bragta said the audio CD released by his former cabinet colleague Vijay Singh Mankotia during his chief ministership was one of the many proof that his successive government tenure were not corruption free.

The Ministers said the former chief minister's charge of regional and caste bias against Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal was highly objectionable and uncalled for.

Regional disparities were visible during the previous Congress government's tenure as the people of all the regions overwhelmingly voted for the BJP in the last assembly elections, they added.

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