BJP, Sukh Ram flay HP governor for inviting Congress
Himachal Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party
president Prem Kumar Dhumal and Himachal Vikas Congress
chief Sukh Ram today accused Governor V S Rama Devi of
acting "undemocratically and ignoring all constitutional
provisions and conventions" in inviting Virbhadra Singh to form the government in the state.
Addressing a joint press conference in Simla, they said the
governor had given "a strange argument" that the BJP and the
HVC had a combined strength of 32 MLAs whereas the Congress had
31 and an Independent MLA was neutral. "In that case, we are in
a majority," they said.
Even if the Independent MLA was considered to be a supporter of
the Congress, both the groups had equal strength in the House and
hence the governor had no reason to invite Virbhadra Singh to
form the government. In this case, the House should have been kept
under suspended animation, they added.
They said they had faxed a statement in this regard to President
K R Narayanan.
BJP general secretary Narendra Modi, who is
in charge of party affairs in Himachal Pradesh, was also present at the press
conference.
Dhumal said the governor had not taken into consideration the
mandate of the people as the BJP had won two of the three Lok Sabha
and 29 of the 65 assembly seats in the state.
Dhumal and Sukh Ram alleged that a "reign of terror" had
been let loose in the state with the help of the administration and
the police.
The two leaders said elected representatives were being
terrorised, kidnapped, and beaten. They alleged that an Independent
MLA had been "kidnapped" with the help of the police and urged the
President to intervene.
Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh Chief Mminister Virbhadra Singh
expanded his eight-member ministry this evening by inducting the
lone Independent MLA, Ramesh Chand, into the ministry.
UNI
Elections '98
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