Palampur, July 29
Former BJP Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today demanded the dismissal of the Virbhadara government and asked Governor V.S. Kokje to hold fresh elections to the Assembly in view of the recent video CD telecast by a news channel showing Cabinet minister G.S.Bali dancing with call girls in a hotel at Dharamsala during a party held in connection with his birthday. Such an act is illegal and highly uncalled for from a public representative.

Addressing a crowded press conference here this afternoon Dhumal said the Congress government had no moral right to be in the office even for day as numerous charges of corruption the BJP had levelled in the past over four years had now virtually been proved. Earlier, an audio CD pertaining to financial transactions made between the Chief Minister, his wife Pratibha Singh and a few industrialists was released by Major Vijay Singh Mankotia and now a video CD telecast by Star News showing minister with call girls were evidence enough to probe the charges of corruption against the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues.

Dhumal regretted that the BJP chargesheet submitted to the Governor last year had contained all such charges of corruption and illegal acts but no action was taken. Dhumal said the “Musical Star Blast Night” organised by Bali last year at Kangra was also embroiled in controversy as Bali and certain government officials had collected lakhs of rupees from the public by issuing duplicate tickets without any serial number.

He said he highlighted the matter in the Assembly but Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, instead of initiating action against Bali, shielded him because of the fact the Chief Minister himself was the chief guest in this star blast night. The BJP chargesheet to the Governor contained copies of tickets without serial numbers but he also failed to initiate action.

If the BJP assumed power, it would adopt a tough posture against corruption.

Earlier, hundreds of BJP workers staged a protest march in the town and raised slogans against the Chief Minister and Bali.

Shimla: State BJP chief Jai Ram Thakur has demanded legal action against former minister G.S. Bali and asserted that ends of justice would not be met by his resignation.

In statement issued here today, he said the act of Bali had brought shame to the state and eroded the confidence of the people in the government. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh must resign and seek a fresh mandate after dissolving the Vidhan Sabha, he said.

He said the Chief Minister had been shielding the corrupt ministers and he had not taken any action on the chargesheet submitted by the BJP. Bali figured directly in the controversial Mumbai musical blast and the irregularities in the construction of bus stand at McLeodganj, but no action was taken against him. Now the misdeed of the ministers were gradually unfolding before the people, he said.

Meanwhile, activists of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, a frontal organisation of the BJP, staged a dharna in front of the residence of G.S. Bali. The activists of the BJP and the morcha also burnt effigies of Bali.

Nurpur: The state BJP has urged the Governor to sack the Chief Minister and declare Assembly elections if he did not resign on moral grounds keeping in view the audio CD episode and Bali’s birthday party incident.

BJP’s state unit vice-president Kirpal Parmar and former Rajya Sabha member in a press conference here today the Chief Minister should have tendered his resignation before asking Bali to put in papers. After the CD expose and the briefcase episode, Virbhadra Singh had no moral right to continue as the Chief Minister, he said. “Had the government acted on the chargesheet submitted by the BJP, the CM would have not seen this day,” he added.

Sundrenagar: Former BJP minister Roop Singh Thakur has demanded registration of a criminal case against transport minister G.S Bali. He said tendering of resignation in the mater was not enough. He said his recent act amounted to offence under Section 294 of the IPC and was punishable with imprisonment up to three months or with fine or both.

He criticised the statement of G.S. Bali that it was his family affair. He said the public had every right to know about each and every act of a minister, who is termed as a public servant under legal provisions. He said the police should register an FIR against all those involved in the incident.

He also demanded a high-level inquiry into the issue of disruption of power at many places that barred people from watching the episode on cable network.

Shimla, July 29
Governor V.S. Kokje today accepted the resignation of G.S. Bali from the post of tourism minister.

Bali had sent his resignation to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh last night after an electronic news channel showed obscene dances in his birthday party recorded as part of a sting operation.

The Chief Minister faxed the resignation to the Governor who is on a tour to Kinnaur. He has conveyed its acceptance by a fax message.

The Chief Minister has kept the portfolios of tourism and transport, which Bali held since the Congress came to power.

With this the number of ministers in the Cabinet has come down to 10. There is now just one minister from Kangra, the biggest and politically most significant district. There were as many as six ministers from the district when the 16-member Virbhadra Singh ministry was sworn in on March 6,2003.

However, the ministry has proved to be a jinxed affair for all leaders, except Sat Mahajan, the lone minister left from Kangra. While Chander Kumar had to quit the ministry after he got elected to the Lok Sabha in May, 2004, the downsizing exercise saw the exit of Vijay Mankotia, Chandresh Kumari and Brij Bihari Lal Butail. Bali, who was known as “mahabali” for the clout he enjoyed both in the party high command and the state survived the exercise despite being a junior first-time minister. The BJP campaign for his ouster in the wake of the controversial Mumbai musical blast organised at Kangra also failed to dislodge him.

With the unceremonious exit of Bali the Chief Minister may have to carry out the exercise to expand his ministry he had been avoiding so far. More so because Mankotia who has deserted the Congress to take up the reins of the BSP has made discrimination against Kangra a major issue.

With a district like Shimla , which is half the size of Kangra, having three ministers, including the Chief Minister, and the biggest district having only one member in the Cabinet, the charge of discrimination will certainly gain currency. He has indicated that he may undertake the exercise shortly.

Shimla, July 29
BJP legislator Virender Kanwar today denied his presence in former transport and tourism minister G.S. Bali's birthday party at a hotel in Dharamsala and threatened to move a notice of breach of privilege in the Vidhan Sabha or file defamation case against Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

The Chief Minister should tender an unqualified public apology for his remarks over my presence in Bali's party or face notice of breach of privilege or a defamation case, he said in a release here.

Kanwar was reacting to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s statement to reporters where he had said that it would be interesting to see what action the BJP would take against its legislator for being present in the party, following a sting operation by a private news channel.

He said Singh was misleading the people of the state by making false and baseless allegations against him as he was with former Chief Minister and MP Prem Kumar Dhumal at Una and not at Dharamsala on Thursday when the sting operation was carried out by the channel. — UNI

Dharamsala, July 29
After being forced to resign from the Cabinet by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh following a sting operation by a news channel that showed him dancing with some call girls, former tourism and transport minister G.S. Bali has landed into fresh trouble.

Bureaucrats present in the dance party could also land into trouble as the police might register an FIR in this connection.

A local resident, Atul Bhardwaj, today lodged a complaint at the Dharamsala police station requesting the registration of an FIR into the case on the basis of the recent expose by a news channel.

However, the police, possibly under political pressure, was reluctant to lodge an FIR at the moment on the pretext that the complaint was being legally examined.

The complainant has demanded a police inquiry into the facts as to who those call girls were and from where they were brought to the resort and who brought them there.

He has further demanded to book the owner/manager of the resort for illegally allowing night-long dance party, besides booking the bureaucrats and the industrialists present there. He has also alleged that state government vehicles were misused for the purpose.

Although the complainant had not named anybody in his complaint, it was obvious that the former minister would land into fresh trouble since the party was organised for him on his birthday and he was very much present on the occasion.

The complainant had written to the police that being a citizen of the state he was hurt over the incident, therefore an FIR be registered on his request.

When contacted, a senior official of the district police said the police would legally examine the complaint and then lodge an FIR accordingly.

Kangra SP Gyaneshwar Singh could not be contacted for comments. He was not available at home and his mobile phone was switched off. No other official of the district administration was willing to comment on the issue.

Dharamsala, July 29
The management of the Asia Health Resort, McLeodganj, has come out in support of Bali and claimed that the dance party was a family get-together arranged by one of his friends.

Manager of the resort Lalit Chauhan, a witness to the whole episode, said the wife, son, daughter and son-in-law of Bali were also present in the party. The news channel did not show all the guests present in the party, he said.

He said there were 45 guests. He confirmed that senior IAS officer T.C. Janartha, managing director of the HRTC, was also present.

Chauhan said wife of the former minister brought a birthday cake around 10.30 pm and it was served to the guests. A few minutes later, minister’ daughter brought another cake which was also served to all guests.

He, however, said that neither Raj Garg nor his friend had booked any room in the hotel or stayed with them. However, the owner of a private channel had stayed in the hotel for three days and left on the next day of the party.

Shimla, July 29
With the successful bidders who have bagged mega hydroelectric projects in global tenders not coming forward to deposit the upfront premia, the Himachal government has decided to set a deadline for the purpose after which the allotted project will be automatically cancelled.

According to sources, the decision was taken by the Cabinet yesterday while awarding four projects with an aggregate capacity of 628 MW to three private companies for which bids were invited recently. Instead of the condition that 50 per cent of the upfront money will have to be deposited with the government at the time of signing of the MoU, it laid down that the amount will have to be remitted by August 31 failing which the allotment would automatically stand cancelled.

It also decided to allot the 261-MW Kuther project, which was earlier awarded to D.S. Constructions, to the second highest bidder JSW Energy limited. The allotment to D.S.Constructions was cancelled after the company failed to achieve the set milestones and did not deposit the 50 per cent of the upfront premium of Rs 67.60 crore. It also did not agree to the condition of reverting the project back to the government after 40 years.

The Malana Power Company of the LNJ Bhilwara Group was awarded two projects for which it was the highest bidder. The company had offered the highest upfront premium of Rs 61.25 lakh per megawatt bidder for the 200-MW Bara Bhangal project on the Ravi in Kangra and Rs 46 lakh per megawatt for the 140-MW Chango-Yangthang project on the Spiti river in Lahaul Spiti.

GMR Energy, an infrastructure firm, was allotted the 180-MW Bijoli-Holi hydroelectric project on the Ravi in Chamba district with an upfront premium of Rs 91 lakh per megawatt. DCM Sriram Infrastructure got the 108-MW Chhatru project for which it had quoted the highest upfront premium of Rs 40.5 lakh per megawatt.

The total upfront premium for the four projects comes to Rs 380 crore. Thus, along with the Kuther project, the four companies will have to deposit Rs 257.60 crore within a month.

They will be required to deposit 25 per cent more at the time of signing the implementation agreement. They will have to give 12 per cent free power as royalty for the first 12 years, 18 per cent for the next 18 years and 30 per cent thereafter. 

Mandi, July 29
With the Central Government allotting Rs 85 crore for total sanitation campaign (TSC) to six districts in the state, Mandi district, which had targeted to make all 473 panchayats open defecation free (ODF) by August 15, 2008, has become a role model for others as the Rural Development Department has directed other districts to replicate its model of success.

Principal secretary IPH Deepak Shanan, who was here for the World Bank-sponsored two-day divisional-level workshop on the TSC here said the positive thing about the TSC in the district was that the villagers had come to know as to why they had built toilets and how defecation in the open polluted water sources was giving rise to water-borne diseases.

Shanan said once they understood the importance of the camp, most of the sanitation problems would be solved.

Rural Development and Panchyati Raj secretary Narinder Chauhan said the government had allotted Rs 85 crore more for six districts, Mandi, Kullu, Kangra, Solan, Hamirpur and Una under the TSC and funds for six other districts would be allotted by September this year. The Mandi TSC mission chairman-cum-deputy commissioner Subhasish Panda gave his presentation at the workshops, highlighting how total sanitation mission was started in September, 2005 and said, “District sanitation mission despite attempts by a certain NGO to sabotage the TSC has made mission a success catching fancy of the people in district”, he added.

The mission aims at changing the behaviour of residents and the community as a whole. Panda said the mission had been linked to schools and anganwaris to make it a mission of the community. 

Chamba, July 29
Though the famous fortnight long pilgrimage of Manimahesh is to commence on September 4 on the eve of Sri Krishna Janamashtmi, the pilgrims and devotees of Lord Shiva from various parts of the neighbouring state have started pouring in Manimahesh and so far about 10,000 pilgrims and devotees have had a holy dip in the icy waters of the Manimahesh Lake.

The influx of pilgrims coming to Manimahesh is increasing day by day.

On way from Chamba to Hadsar, 20 parking-lots had been identified for the convenience of pilgrims and devotees hailing from different parts of the country and abroad, thereby easing the traffic congestion, local tribal MLA Thakur Singh Bharmouri stated.

He said nearly 120 open places had been identified which would be developed for the pilgrims stay at an estimated cost of Rs 20 lakh.

A complete ban had been imposed on the use of polythene bags and arrangements had been chalked out to collect disposable cups and plates en route Manimahesh, Bharmouri said.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh is also expected to visit Manimahesh to pay his obeisance to Lord Shiva.

Shimla, July 29
The state government will urge the Centre to amend the Electricity Act, 2003, to help resolve the issue of unbundling of the electricity boards. It will also take up the matter with the Central Electricity Authority for preparation of an integral master plan for evacuation of power from projects identified in different river basins of the state.

Addressing the 22nd general body meeting of the Power Engineers Association of Himachal Pradesh, Chief minister Virbhadra Singh said the spirit behind the enactment of the Electricity Act, 2003, was to help the state power boards contain losses and generate enough income for their sustenance. Many of the boards were doing well on the revenue side and there appeared no reasons for their unbundling.

The government had already taken up the matter with the quarters concerned at the Centre and would reiterate the same, besides seeking amendments to the Electricity Act, 2003, suitably to protect the interests of the state electricity boards that were financially sound. Pending the amendment in the Act the government would seek extension for implementation of the provisions of the Act beyond the deadline of December 9, 2007.

He said 305 posts of assistant and junior engineer had been sanctioned for the board and were likely to be filled by September, 2007. Besides, 38 had been promoted as chief engineers, 75 as superintending engineers and 85 as senior executive engineers.

Power minister Vidya Stokes said that power projects with aggregate 1010 MW capacity were under execution in the state sector.

Padamjit Singh, adviser, All-India Power Engineers Federations, said that unbundling had not improved the functioning of boards and the bundled entities were doing much better.

General secretary of the association Suneel Grover urged the CM not to grant any extension in service to engineers in the board who had completed 58 years of age, adding that even the age limit of members of the board and the chairman should be brought down to 58 from 62 years and 65 years, respectively, by legislation. 

Chamba, July 29
The eight-day long International Minjar Fair of Chamba got off to a colourful start today with the offering of holy minjars (golden hue of maize blossoms) at the historic Lakshmi Narayan and Raghuvira temples by deputy commissioner Gopal Sharma, who is also the chairperson of the International Minjar Fair Celebration Committee.

After offering the minjars at the Lakshmi Narayan and Raghuvira temples, as well as at the Hari Rai temple, the procession arrived at the historic Chowgan and the DC inaugurated the Minjar Fair by hoisting the national flag. The exhibition was also inaugurated by him.

The DC also declared the Minjar sports tournament open in which hockey, football, volleyball, basketball, kabaddi and wrestling teams from Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh were participating.

The DC said the state was a treasure house of varied culture, which was endowed with rich cultural heritage. He said the Minjar fair was one of the exemplary fairs. The fair would conclude on August 5 with the immersion of minjars in the Ravi.

More than one lakh visitors from home and aboard are expected to participate in the eight-day long fair. The temples in the town have been decorated tastefully and the entire town has been aesthetically spruced up.

Renowned playback singers Hans Raj ‘Hans’ and Babul Supriyo along with other artistes would give their concert during the fair.

Folk artistes from different parts of Himachal Pradesh would perform their traditional songs at the fair.

Shimla, July 29
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today laid the foundation stone of the Rs 8-crore Shivalik mount Jakhu ropeway project to be constructed by Jagson Airlines here.

He said that the government was keen to develop quality tourism infrastructure to help attract elite high-end tourists. Tourism was no longer a seasonal affair as tourists thronged the hill state not only during the summer but all through the year. There was need to prolong their stay in the state capital and the ropeway project would help achieve this objective.

The CM said the Sanjauli bypass was nearing completion and work on the inter- state bus terminus here was in progress. Tunnels were being constructed under the Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission to ease traffic congestion in the town while the existing circular road was also being improved to accommodate the increasing pressure of vehicles.