Opinion April 6, 1983, Forty Years Ago: Himachal Pradesh CM Ram Lal to step down
This is the front page of The Indian Express published on April 6, 1983.
This is the front page of The Indian Express published on April 6, 1983. 
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Ram Lal has decided to step down according to AICC (1) sources. But state party sources say he had already handed over his resignation to the Congress (I) president, Indira Gandhi. Ram Lal will submit a formal resignation to the governor soon. The speculation about his removal had been going on for some time on account of serious charges against persons close to him, particularly his son and son-in-law, in timber scandals in the state.
Amritsar clashes
A bomb explosion in Dal Mandi in the walled city of Amritsar triggered a series of clashes between the police and members of one community. Three people were injured. An unconfirmed report said the police fired a few rounds in the air to scare away a stone-throwing mob at Qila Bhangian.
‘Kachha’ march
People travelling in buses craned their necks out of the windows to see hordes of office employees stripping to their underwear on the Boat Club lawns. It was a sight both amusing and surprising. The occasion was “kachha” (underwear) march organised by the Delhi State Co-ordination Committee of the Confederation of Central Government Employees. Over 2,000 subordinate government employees belonging to Class IV and V took part in the march. This was to protest against the government’s failure to provide terry-cot uniforms in place of the khadi one.
Diplomats out
France has ordered the expulsion of 47 Soviet diplomats and other officials, in the biggest intelligence clean-up recorded in Franco-Soviet relations. The expulsions had initially been reported in the leftist daily, Liberation. The newspaper said that the 47 included the number three man at the Soviet Embassy, first counsellor Nikolai Chetverikov, and the head of the Soviet news agency, Tass, Oleg Shirikov.
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