Yog Raj Sharma
The North News
Shimla, August 27
The BJP on Wednesday raised allegations of irregularities in the allocation of 70 shops by APMC Shimla and Kinnaur and demanded a judicial inquiry into the matter on the eighth day of the Monsoon Session in Himachal Pradesh Assembly. Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur said the allocations involved large-scale corruption and accused the Agriculture Minister of justifying the process instead of ordering an inquiry. Agriculture Minister, however, rejected the claims, stating that the 70 shops were allotted as per rules and dismissed the Opposition’s accusations as baseless.
BJP MLA Randhir Sharma alleged that the government allotted shops at low rents to its “favourites” and attempted to suppress the issue by transferring officials. He claimed that shops in Parala vegetable market were leased for ₹5,000, while a decade ago shops fetched between ₹50,000 and ₹80,000. Unhappy with the response, the Opposition staged a walkout from the Assembly. BJP leaders further alleged nepotism in the allocations and pointed to corruption in the Parala CA store and food processing plant, promising a probe if their party comes to power.
