BJP slams Sukhu over Himachal Bhawan seizure, says ‘prestige property in on verge of auction’

The Himachal Pradesh High Court’s decision ordering attachment of state government run Himachal Bhawan in New Delhi has snowballed into a major political controversy.

The High Court has ordered attachment of the property located on prime Sikandra road in the national capital due to failure of government to return Rs 64 crore along with interest, which was paid as upfront premium for allotment of a 320 MW hydel project in Lahaul Spiti.

The BJP has accused Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu of gross economic mismanagement of the state after the High Court passed orders.

Central BJP released videos of leader of opposition Jairam Thakur and state BJP chief Rajiv Bindal alleging that the mismanagement of Congress government in the state had brought a prestige property of Himachal on the verge of an auction.

"This is a matter of shame," both Jairam and Bindal said in video statements.

The high court orders related to previous non-payment of dues which have since escalated to around Rs 150 crore due to delays in resolution of dues.

The BJP said Himachal government was moving from one embarrassment to another after the controversies involving "samosas, toilet tax and now orders for attachment of Mandi House Himachal Bhavan."

The opposition leaders said the government was more concerned about saving its government by spending crores to hire lawyers to save its government on the adverse order on appointment of chief parliamentary secretaries than protect the state’s interest.