Sukh Ram offers to bail out Virbhadra
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 2 — Indicating a shift from his earlier stand, Mr Sukh Ram, president of the Himachal Vikas Congress, today set tendering of public apology by Mr Virbhadra Singh for maligning him as a precondition for dropping the demand for a CBI probe into charges against the former Chief Minister.

The HVC supremo, who has all along been asserting that there would be no compromise on this issue said he was under tremendous pressure from friends of Virbhadra Singh to give up the demand. However, he would drop the demand only after Mr Singh, who hatched a conspiracy along with Mr Rajesh Pilot and some officers to fabricate false cases against him, publicly accept their mistakes and make amends by offering an apology, he told newsmen at a press conference.

He listed the sugar-scandal, in which he was exonerated, and various cases registered against him in connection with the telecom scam, as the issues for which Mr Singh and Mr Pilot should apologies. The two leaders, he said, misused media to tarnish his image by planting baseless stories. For instance, as per news reports his assets were worth over Rs 1000 crore, whereas the chargesheet field against him by the CBI only mentioned those properties which had figured in his income tax returns.

Referring to reports that the complaints against Mr Virbhadra Singh already adjudicated by the Lokayukta could not be investigated again, Mr Sukh Ram said under the act the reports of the Lokayukta were to placed before the Vidhan Sabha. But this particular report was not discussed in the House. He said he would raise the matter during the winter session of the state assembly.

More surprising, while the Lokayukta gave a clean chit to Mr Virbhadra Singh, it neither initiated action against the complainant nor gave a copy of the report to him. There is a provision to prosecute persons filing a false complaint under the act.

Regarding the fate of the chargesheet submitted by the HVC against Mr Virbhadra Singh, he said he had been informed that a preliminary inquiry had already been started by the CBI and a few cases were being looked into by investigating agencies.

The HVC leader said the defeat of the Congress in the Baijnath byelection was a personal humiliation for Mr Virbhadra Singh who spearheaded the party's campaign. The electorate of Himachal, even in traditional stronghold of the Congress like Baijnath and the tribal areas, had rejected his leadership.

Replying to question he said the HVC would continue to support the BJP as political stability was essential to speed up development. He said the party would not merge with either the BJP or the Congress and continue to maintain its identity as the third political force.

He hailed the agreement between the state and the National Hydro-Electric Power Corporation (NHPC) for the execution of the 2051 MW Parbati Project. However, he cautioned that the state must ensure that things did not go the Chamera-II project way and work was started immediately.

He said the Chief Minister should strive to create a competitive environment for bringing down the cost of hydel projects and ensuring their timely completion. When the Nathpa-Jhakri project was handed over to NJPC its cost was Rs 2500 crore. Now, as per the revised completion schedule, it would be Rs 7500 crore and in all probability it would not be completed by the year 2001. As such cost would go up further.

Reacting to the unusual offer, Mr Virbhadra Singh, ridiculed the condition of public apology, set by Mr Sukh Ram.

He said the HVC leader knew very well that the charges were baseless and politically motivated and most of these "so called" allegations had already been adjudicated by the Lokayukta and various courts right up to the apex court.

So Mr Sukh Ram was welcome to do what he wanted in the matter and he was least bothered about this.

In fact, Mr Sukh Ram should tender an apology for trying to defame him and indulging in character assassination, Mr Singh added.

Cong to pin down govt on copter lease
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 2 — The winter session of the Himachal Assembly, beginning here tomorrow, is likely to be a lively affair.

Although the defeat of the Congress in the Baijnath byelection has dampened the party's spirit, it will try to corner the ruling coalition by raising inconvenient issues, like price rise, law and order situation, alleged misuse of the government machinery in the byelection and large-scale transfers of employees.

The BJP-HVC combine had smooth sailing during the previous session as it had just assumed office. It was the Congress which was at the receiving end most of the time as issues relating to its tenure, like payment of commission on raising loans and medical mess, were raised.

However, the situation has changed since and the opposition is now armed with several potent issues to whip the government.

Apart from the failure to curb the spiralling prices and large-scale transfers of employees, the Congress is also trying to pin down the government on the helicopter issue. The BJP when in the Opposition, had been severely critical of Mr Virbhadra Singh for taking a helicopter on lease. A fund- starved state like Himachal could not afford such a luxury, it had told the people. However, after coming to power, it initiated a proposal to take a bigger helicopter on lease. The Congress is thus likely to pin down the ruling party for its volte face on the issue.

The killing of innocent people in Chamba district by Kashmir militants and atrocities on Dalits, particularly the burning of young women in Kangra district, were also likely attract the attention of the House.

The Congress has been charging the BJP-HVC combine with politicising the administration and it was likely to raise this issue also.

The legislative parties of both the Congress and BJP are holding their meetings to night to chalk out their respective strategies for the session.

There will be six sittings in all, including a private members' day.

Meanwhile, Gulab Singh Thakur, Speaker, Himachal Vidhan Sabha, today called on Mrs V.S. Rama Devi, Governor, at Raj Bhavan here and apprised her of the business to be conducted during the winter session of the House beginning tomorrow.

He said the winter session would have six sittings and the House would be adjourned on December 10.

Murder mystery solved
From Our Correspondent

SOLAN, Dec 2 — The police claims to have solved the murder mystery shrouding the recovery of the highly decomposed body of a youngman from Patta Mor, near Kumarhatti, 10 km from here, on the Kalka-Shimla national highway on July 22.

The body, which could not be identified at that time and was cremated after the usual police proceedings two days later, has since been identified as that of Mr Bodh Raj Khurana (34), a local taxi operator based at Ambala, Khurana had been reported missing since July 14, the day he carried four passengers from Ambala to Shimla.

Strangely enough, the police at that time claimed that the mother of Khurana, Tara Devi, had said that the body was not of her son.

Giving details of the dramatic "turn about" to mediapersons here today, the Superintendent of Police, Mr M.L. Negi, said that the case was solved following the arrest of three persons by the Ferozepore police on November 23 on the charges of forging registration certificates of motor vehicles and driving licences, and also of stealing cars.

As a car recovered from the accused originally belonged to Khurana, the Ferozepore police alerted their Solan counterparts. A team led by Inspector K.D. Khan succeeded in making the arrested persons admit that they had murdered Khurana with a view to stealing his Maruti van which they had hired for a pretended trip to Shimla on July 14.

Following sustained interrogation at Dharapur police station, the three also admitted to have strangled Khurana with a nylon rope, near Kumarhatti.

The police, after their admission, summoned the estranged wife of Khurana and her uncle from Ambala for identifying the clothes on the body found on July 22 which had been preserved by them even though the body had been cremated as unclaimed and unidentified. While the wife identified the clothes as belonging to her husband, the uncle identified the shoes as these were given by him to the deceased.

A hunt was also on for the fourth person who had accompanied the three in Khurana's taxi on July 14.

Make payments to apple growers, says Ram Lal
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 2 — Former Chief Minister and Congress leader Thakur Ram Lal said today that cash payments should be made without any delay to the apple growers whose produce was procured under the market intervention scheme by various agencies of the state government.

Thakur Ram Lal has written a detailed letter to the Chief Minister, Mr P K Dhumal in this regard.

Appreciating the government’s move of running the procurement centres for a longer period, which has benefited the apple growers throughout the state, Thakur Ram Lal has urged the Chief Minister to issue orders to the HPMC and the Himfed for releasing the payments for the procured apple. This would help the farmers whose crop was damaged due to bad weather, he added.

He said due to the lean crop during the past five years, the majority of farmers had fallen on bad days and to incurred debts.

Thakur Ram Lal, who recently returned from the apple-growing areas said the growers had apprehensions that payments for their procured produce might be made in kind which would not be useful in tiding over their financial problems.

He has made it clear that the adjustment of the price of procured produce in the form of juices should not be permitted as growers have justifiably been expressing their resentment against this mode of payment.

SFI threatens dharna on Dec 5
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 2 — The state unit of the Students Federation of India will stage a dharna on December 5 to protest against the "saffronisation" of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study here.

The federation said it would not allow Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Minister for Human Resources Development. to deliver the annual Dr S. Radhakrishnan memorial lecture at the institute, as he was invited in place of eminent economist Amartya Sen. Hitherto, the prestigious lecture was only delivered by well-known scholars like Simon Blackburn, Richard Sohrabjee, Andre Beteille and MGK Menon, it pointed out.

It criticised the new governing body which, it alleged, had been packed with sympathisers of the BJP and the RSS for not approving the list of new fellows selected for the 1999-2000 period.

It appealed to the student community to organise rallies all over the state in protest against the move to saffronise and communalise the educational system.

Appointment of Sukhwinder hailed
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 2 — The appointment of Mr Sukhwinder Singh as the new President of the Youth Congress in Himachal Pradesh has been welcomed widely.

Ms Sulakshna Arya, Municipal Councillor, said that the Youth Congress would be strengthened with his appointment. She said that the AICC President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, had selected the right person for heading the party in the state.

NSUI leaders, Mr Rakesh Chauhan, Mr Rakesh Dhaulta and Mr Gaurav Bisht, have also welcomed Mr Sukhwinder's appointment.

Meanwhile, Mr Amar Nath Bazwaria, AICC member, said that the credit for victory of the Congress in the assembly elections in Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh went to Mrs Sonia Gandhi who had brought unity among party men in these states.