Cracks surface in Himachal Congress, chief parliamentary secretary resigns

SHIMLA: Results of Lok Sabha elections are yet to be announced, but infighting within Congress has come to the fore with chief parliamentary secretary (CPS) Rajesh Dharmani revolting against chief minister Virbhadra Singh by tendering his resignation, citing "no work" as the reason. A close loyalist of horticulture minister Vidya Stokes, Dharmani had earlier offered to resign on October 2, 2013, but had dropped the decision after CM Virbhadra Singh had intervened.

The internal tension was felt on May 8 when Virbhadra Singh had attacked state Congress president Sukhwinder Singh through his statement that Congress could have benefitted during the polling had the "pick and choose" policy in bringing back rebels was not adopted. According to sources, CPS (forests) Rajesh Dharmani, who is two-time MLA from Gumarwin in Bilaspur district, submitted his resignation on Saturday to the chief minister. Sources said that Dharmani has not spoken to Virbhadra Singh on the issue but informed CM's private secretary over phone.

Dharmani said that the chief minister had assured him to give him work but nothing happened. "It is an ornamental post just to circumvent the 91st amendment in the constitution, which limits size of the ministry," he added. "I could not contribute anything substantial during my stint as CPS since I took over the post last year," he said. He said that there is no question of withdrawing his resignation this time.

Sources said that the forest department is headed by cabinet minister Thakur Singh Bharmauri, who is a close loyalist of Virbhadra Singh and though Dharmani was made CPS (forests) he had no role to play in the department or corporation as he was not updated about developments.