Sunday,
July 7, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Sukh Ram’s son new HVC President
Our Correspondent
Mr Sukh Ram waves to the crowd during a procession at Ghumarwin on
Saturday.
— Tribune photo Karam Singh |
Bilaspur, July 6
The Himachal Vikas Congress supremo and former Minister of State for Telecommunications, Mr Sukh Ram, today declared that he was stepping down from the post of party President to make way for his son, party Senior Vice-President and a Rajya Sabha MP Anil Sharma so that his conviction by a Delhi court do not have any adverse impact on the party. Addressing a big rally of activists drawn from all 68 Assembly constituencies of the state at Ghumarwin near here today Mr Sukh Ram declared that henceforth he would work as a “common party soldier” and strive hard to frustrate all attempts of his “friends” who had always been jealous of the love and affection showered by the people of Himachal on him and who had been conspiring to involve him in court cases. Mr Sukh Ram amid applauses from thousands of party workers, declared that he had full faith in judiciary and in himself and in the fact that he had done nothing wrong. He said he was fully confident that he would soon come out clear as he would go for an appeal in the high court and it would be only then that he would again take the charge of presidentship of the party. Mr Sukh Ram declared that the Himachal Vikas Congress would fight Assembly elections on its own and put up candidates in all 68 Assembly constituencies. Even if he was not allowed to contest the coming election he would campaign for the party in every nook and corner of every constituency, he said. A large number of his audience, which shouted “no, no” when Mr Sukh Ram declared his decision to quit the party presidentship. Mr Sukh Ram said he had taken this
decision after great thought and got permission from the party state Executive. He said this was the only best course for him and also for the party, which he had built with his “sweat and blood” and which he hoped would become a medium of bringing an economic revolution in the state.Mr Sukh Ram said massive
debt trap, poverty and unemployment were big problems of Himachal Pradesh and if people gave a chance to the HVC, he would ensure that these problems were resolved not by taking more loans but by harnessing its natural wealth. Mr Sukh Ram said he had no personal enmity or grudge against former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh but he never liked his style of functioning which had resulted in bringing the state on the verge of bankruptcy. He remained Chief Minister for 11 years in the state and totally ignored its pressing problems. He said the Himachal Vikas Congress had a programme which could change the economic face of the state and could bring a revolution in its economy. Earlier a party unit presented a life-size model of telephone, the election symbol of the HVC, made of silver metal to Mr Sukh Ram while an 80-year-old woman delegate from Kinnaur presented a Kinnauri cap to him. Party general secretary Shivlal Sharma, State youth wing President and Himachal Animal Husbandry and PWD Minister of State Ramlal Markandeya, Acting President Vijay Joshi, Major D.D. Khuduria, former Member Parliament, Dhaniram Shandil MP and Anil Sharma, MP, also addressed the rally. Mr Sukh Ram said his party would not withdraw its support from the BJP-led coalition government in the state following his conviction by a Delhi court in a corruption case. “The HVC will continue to support the present government for the remaining period of its term,” he told newsmen after addressing the rally organised in connection with its eighth foundation day today. He also said the HVC would continue to be a member of the National Democratic Alliance at the Centre. 
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