Irregularities in selection of Dharamsala for development as

BJP MLA Suresh Bhardwaj today accused the Himachal Pradesh government of irregularities in selection of Dharamsala for development as "smart city" and appealed to Governor Acharya Devvrat to order a high-level inquiry into the matter.
In a memorandum submitted to the Governor, Shimla MLA Bhardwaj accused the Congress government of "fudging the documents and promoting nepotism, regionalism and personal aggrandizement", and demanded an inquiry by CBI or any other high-powered agency.
The CPI(M) had earlier announced to move the high court in case Shimla was not declared a "smart city", and supported the allegations of Bhardwaj that facts had been "fudged" for inclusion of Dharamsala in the list of smart cities, ignoring the claim of Shimla.

The memorandum of former Himachal Pradesh BJP president Bhardwaj claimed the high-powered committee, headed by the Chief Secretary, was misled as Dharamsala Municipal Council gave itself five points for publishing of e-newsletter whereas the fact is there was no such e-newsletter on its website.
Dharamsala was given five points for placing electronically project-wise municipal budget information for the last two financial years but there is no such provision for it on its website, he claimed.
Further, Dharamsala was given 10 points for implementing 100 per cent JNNURM reforms, whereas the fact is that there are many reforms like on-line deposit of property and water taxes, unit area method and double entry accounting have not been carried out.

In fact, Dharamsala was not a JNNURM city and the question of completion of any project or reforms did not arise, he claimed.
The memorandum claimed Dharamsala's selection was based on "political considerations".