Shimla, June 29: State food and civil supplies minister Singhi Ram today ridiculed the demand made by former chief minister P K Dhumal for shifting the state capital from Shimla, saying Dhumal was making irrelevant statements just to divert the attention of the people. In a statement here Singhi Ram said that Dhumal who had been chief minister must know that setting up a new capital requires hundreds of crores of rupees which the state can now hardly afford due to its poor financial health.

Singhi Ram said that such statements from Dhumal was, however, not surprising because he had on the eve of the last elections announced creation of some districts knowing full well that it was not possible due to poor financial position of the state and for administrative reasons.

Dhumal demanded the immediate shifting of the capital from Shimla while talking to reporters at Hamirpur yesterday.

Bureau Report