Awar of words between Arun Dhumal, son of former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, and the Congress Ministers in Himachal Pradesh has ensued with both sides levelling charges of misconduct and corruption against each other.
A day after Arun Dhumal attacked the Government for vendetta politics, Ministers came down heavily on the allegations levelled by him. Power Minister Sujan Singh Pathania and Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri said that BJP leaders are making false and frivolous accusations against the State Government to divert public attention from their misdeeds, which were coming to fore.
Pathania said that the lust for land of Dhumal family had crossed all levels and they did not even spare a poor person Premu, who was granted Government land for being landless and purchased his land in violation of the provisions of the law rendering him landless.
He said that Dhumal family has cheated the poor family and violated the law. It was strange that instead of admitting their unlawful act, they were now pointing fingers at the Government for vendetta and victimisation.
Meanwhile, in another Press conference on Tuesday, Dhumal junior targeted Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and raked up the alleged irregularities in Income Tax return.
Arun Dhumal questioned the increase of agricultural income of Virbhadra Singh from less than Rs 10 lakh to over crores of rupees.
He was been recently booked by vigilance bureau for forging documents to purchase a piece of land at Dharamshala.
In his second consecutive Press conference on Tuesday, Dhumal junior produced documents pertaining to I-T returns, bank statements of Virbhadra Singh’s lIC agent, who also used to manage his orchards and made payments of premium of life insurance policies. The issue of ‘irregularities’ in I-T returns had also cropped up during Assembly elections in the State, last year and Virbhadra Singh had said that he has every right to revise the I-T returns filed to the Income Tax department previously under the law.
Govt seeks details of land sold by landless
After the Himachal Vigilance Bureau lodged a case against Anurag Thakur and Arun Dhumal for fraudulently purchasing land of a ‘landless’ person, the State Government has sought details from all districts about the land sold by landless.
Revenue Minister Kaul Singh Thakur said that the Government had already ordered investigation on shady or Benami land deals in the State but several cases have come forward where the Government land allotted to a landless person was sold to third persons flouting the rules.
“The Government wants to know how many of them (landless) sold their land, for what purposes they sold their land and who purchased land from them,” said Thakur. land deals in the State have once again hogging the lime light with Vigilance lodging the case and revenue department probing several controversial land deals which have happened during the previous BJP Government.
Few days back, State anti-corruption and vigilance bureau had booked former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal sons -- Anurag Thakur, a lok Sabha member from Hamirpur constituency and his younger brother Arun Dhumal for forging documents to purchase a piece of land at Dharamshala.
Thakur said that since the Congress has made poll manifesto as its policy document therefore as promised the shady land deals will be probed which have mention in the charge sheet submitted to the President of India, while the Congress was in Opposition. The Congress has then given a slogan “Himachal Pradesh on Sale” against the Prem Kumar Dhumal Government.
The BJP Government had though constituted one man commission to probe Benami land deals under the chairmanship of retired judge DP Sood and in its finding several land deals which have happened during the previous Congress Government tenure had come up.
To protect the interests of landless, the State Government had enacted two important laws. In 1972, the HP ceiling on land holding Act was passed which had the land ceiling fixed on various kinds of lands and tenants could not be evicted. It also directed that every agricultural family must be given at least five bighas of land.
In 1974, HP village common land vestment and utilisation act was passed to enable the Government to give lands to the landless. Under these agrarian reforms, out of 5 lakh agricultural families, about 4.5 lakh had become land owners.