Himachal CM accuses Dhumal of suppressing political opponents

Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh today accused the former CM P K Dhumal of suppressing the political opponents during his tenure, changing the political culture of the state.
"The Congress partyalways believed in true spirit of democracy and not suppressing its political opponents but the BJP under the leadership of Prem Kumar Dhumal targeted the political opponents and changed the political decency of the State," Singh said while laying the foundation stone of Lambloo water treatment plant.
Addressing the gathering at Lambloo in district Hamirpur, he said the Congress workers had to strive hard for existence in Lambloo and were threatened of dire consequences.

But whenever efforts were made by BJP to suppress the Congress party, it emerged stronger.
Asserting that Congress never adopted the path of suppression of its opponents as it believes in true spirit of democracy, the Chief Minister said that "Dhumal government instituted false cases against me and my family and every time I faced session trial and came out clean".
Referring the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA), Singh said that the land was given to Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) on lease but the problem cropped up when the HPCA was converted into a company.

"We don't want any politics to be played in the name of sports, but the HPCA cheated the government and got the HPCA registered outside Himachal," he alleged, adding that "there is a monopoly of the members of the HPCA, mostly from outside the state and I want that that its elections should be held in democratic manner."

Singh alleged that the HPCA was having its headquarters in Jalandhar, it constructed a five star hotel by axing hundreds of trees and the land was shown as waste land but even today hundreds of trees stand erected there.
The Chief Minister said that cricket association should have open membership as per the decision of the Apex court of the country.
The Supreme Court-mandated Committee headed by former Chief Justice of India R M Lodha is set to propose extensive measures to revamp the functioning of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) which would be in interest of all cricket associations, he said.

He reiterated his allegation that the Dhumals, in connivance with a union leader were "hatching conspiracy against me and trying to implicate me in false cases".
"The cases of my income tax returns were being dealt with by various agencies and then why a central investigating agency was involved to raid my premises," he questioned.