Divided Oppn faces test,Dhumal says his govt has nothing to fear

On Sunday,the entire government machinery — the Cabinet,higher bureaucracy led by Chief Secretary Rajwant Sandhu,Director General of Police D S Manhas with senior police officers and other key government officials — reached here for the session and will camp here for the next four days.

The session ahead of the panchayats and urban local bodies elections is going to be a test for the “divided” Congress,which will be required to take a few extra steps to forge a unity if it wants to pin down the government in the House. In fact,the BJP government,which will complete three years in power this month,has not faced any problem from the Opposition till now,within or outside the House.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal,who flew in this morning and was joined by his Cabinet ministers to hold a meeting of party MLAs,said: “The government has nothing to fear or hide from the Opposition. We want the Congress to play its role as Opposition,which it unfortunately has not been able to.”

The official business of the Assembly released two days ago includes discussions on at least 21 Bills,including a new legislation to set up a regulatory body for private universities. The Bill was introduced during the last session,but because of the Opposition’s stand,the CM agreed to refer it to the select committee,which has already given its report.

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Leader Vidya Stokes said: “We are fully prepared to raise issues of public importance,like delays in implementation of hydel projects that is causing a loss to the tunes of crores in the form of non-tax revenue. There are other issues like the fake marksheet scam,the High Court pulling up the government on offering plum posts to tainted officers and also the Shukla Committee report,which the government has refused to implement to protect environment.”

The CLP,too,held a meeting to draw its strategy for the session. PCC president Kaul Singh Thakur,who was given a civic reception,raised the issue of corruption involving top government officers.

To this,Dhumal told the media that the government was prepared to order an inquiry if the PCC president provided proof.

Earlier,Dhumal was received by Cabinet ministers Krishan Kapoor and Ravinder Ravi on his arrival.