NEW DELHI, MAY 26: The bitter power struggle between Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Food Minister Shanta Kumar, a la the Virbhadra Singh-Sukh Ram fight, has left the BJP high command shocked and the people of the state bewildered.It is no secret that Shanta Kumar nursed chief ministerial ambitions when the BJP assumed power in the state. However, Dhumal was picked up as there was a consensus on his name. But the bitterness has prevailed and the party is at a loss to understand how to handle the problem.So ``pained and humiliated'' was Shanta Kumar over the treatment meted out to him by the state government on May 21 at the Pathankot railway station - there was no security and protocol was not followed - that he decided never to board a vehicle provided by the state government. Instead, he hired a private car to travel in the state during his four-day visit and vowed that as long as Dhumal was the Chief Minister, he would never accept the state government's hospitality. This was widely reported in the media.Just a few months ago, Shanta Kumar had lodged a protest with the party's central leaders against what he described as the authoritarian attitude of the Chief Minister. Shanta Kumar had told them that Dhumal had ordered the removal of his (Shanta's) name from the foundation stone to be laid for a hydro-power plant to be set up in his constituency of Palampur. Though the private power company had inscribed the names of the Chief Minister, Union Food Minister and of a local minister on the stone, the Chief Minister reportedly insisted that the foundation stone should contain his name alone. The company complied with his wish and a foundation stone containing only the CM's name was laid at a function. The company was also told that there was no need to hold a public rally for the function and that there should be no speeches either.On returning to the Capital, Shanta Kumar called on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Union Home Minister L K Advani and BJP president Kushabhau Thakre and complained.When Shanta Kumar and Dhumal met at a function, the Chief Minister explained that he had issued no directive to the company to remove his name. It was the Chief Secretary who had inadvertently told the company about it, unaware that a foundation stone had already been readied for the purpose.But the differences persist and more chapters are likely to to be added to this clash unless the party high command steps in.
