Shimla: Congress in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday demanded the resignation of opposition BJP leader PK Dhumal from the party leadership for his alleged involvement in the demolition of a Government College building at Dharamsala, after which the land was "encroached by the HPCA".
Chief Parliamentary Secretaries Vinay Kumar and Nand Lal said the then Deputy Commissioner of Kangra, K K Pant had reportedly revealed that the two-storey building, supposed to house the faculty of Government College, was razed to ground on the direction of Dhumal, the then Chief Minister.
The two Congress leaders said that a letter purportedly written by Pant on May? 24, 2008 to Deputy Director, Higher Education contains reference of direct involvement of Dhumal in the encroachment of government land.
They alleged that in 2008, when BJP came to power, Dhumal got the building declared unsafe, though, as per findings of investigating agencies, it was renovated a year before.
The duo, in a joint statement, asked Dhumal to explain why the need arose to demolish the residential quarters.
"It was done to oblige his son Anurag Thakur who is also President of HPCA," they said, adding that Dhumal government gave land worth crores of rupees at five places to HPCA.
Charging the Dhumals with violating norms, the secretaries said they were misleading people by "making noises" demanded his resignation from the party leadership.
"They (Dhumals) are resorting to pressure building tactics and political gimmicks. It is high time that Dhumal should resign on moral grounds," the leaders said.
