M A I N   N E W S

BJP-HVC alliance to stay: CM
Framing of charges against Sukh Ram
Prashant Sood
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 11
Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has said that the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) of former Communications Minister Sukh Ram continued to be a partner of the BJP in the state.

Mr Dhumal, who yesterday attended a meeting of the BJP Chief Ministers in the capital, said that the framing of charges against Mr Sukh Ram would not have an effect on the alliance. The cases, he said, pertained to the period when Mr Sukh Ram was not with the BJP.

A designated court here had yesterday framed charges against Mr Sukh Ram alleging that he possessed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. The CBI had seized Rs 3.61 crore in cash in raid on Mr Sukh Ram’s house. His properties in Mandi and near Delhi had been valued at over Rs 2 crore.

The relations between the HVC and the BJP have been on the downswing for some time with Mr Sukh Ram criticising publicly some “unpopular” decisions of the state government and trying to distance his party from it. The BJP leaders, on the other hand, have been calling on the party ally to act according to the accepted norms of an alliance.

Talking to The Tribune here, Mr Dhumal said that some warning system should be put in place between China and India so that the damage caused by floods in rivers flowing through two countries was prevented. Last year’s flood in Sutlej had caused death of over 100 persons besides damaging infrastructure worth crores in Shimla and Sirmaur districts of Himachal Pradesh. The Himachal government then had requested the Ministry of External Affairs to take up the issue of floods with China so that such tragedies could be averted. Though there has not been any official confirmation, recent press reports suggest that the floods could have been prevented had China regulated the flow of water accumulated in Sutlej basins in its area.