Former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Thursday contradicted chief minister Virbhadra Singh’s statement that he was the chief patron of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA), headed by his son Anurag Thakur.
“I was never the patron of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, nor attended any of its meetings. There is no question of me providing any benefits to the HPCA,” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader claimed in a statement issued here.
He said the state anti-corruption and vigilance bureau had sent him a question-naire on the HPCA in February, seek-ing details about the sports body’s patron. “I had clarified that I had never been the patron of the HPCA,” Dhumal said, accusing state chief minister Virbhadra Singh of misleading people on the issue.
“Virbhadra is lying that I gave benefits to the HPCA. These are all misleading statements,” alleged Dhumal, claiming that the statement that his government had given land on lease to the sports body for ` 1 was “not based on facts”.
“He should understand that the stadium is the property of the HPCA, not of any individual or family,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“He should understand that the stadium is the property of the HPCA, not of any individual or family,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“Virbhadra Singh had given orders that the stadium be taken over in the middle of the night,” he said.
“The HPCA is paying the government
Rs 27 lakh annually for the land leased out for the Pavilion Hotel in Dharamsala. Chief minister Virbhadra Singh is indulging in slander against me to derive political mile age, ” former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal alleged.