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Virbhadra has no understanding of fiscal apparatus: Dhumal

By Our Staff Correspondent

SHIMLA, SEPT 13. The former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader, Prem Kumar Dhumal, has blamed the Chief Minister, Virbhadra Singh, for pushing the economy to disarray while having no proper understanding of fiscal apparatus and methods. Criticising Mr.Singh for using a religious platform yesterday for settling political scores, Mr. Dhumal said that Mr. Singh, who had also been the Finance Minister of the State for 12 long years, did not understand the difference between "loans" and "guarantees".

The Chief Minister while speaking at a Sikh function, "Prakashotsav", had blamed the previous Dhumal- led BJP Government for leaving a loan of Rs 15,000 crore for the Congress Government.

Mr. Dhumal said that Mr. Singh had made a categorical statement in the House after coming back into power in March 2003 that the total loans to be repaid by the State were Rs 11,660 crore. He said that when the BJP came into power in 1998 there were already loans worth Rs 6,000 crore to be repaid. He wanted to know how the figure had reached Rs 15000 crore.

Mr. Dhumal also sought a clarification from the State Government for taking loans to the tune of Rs 3000 crore in just one year after coming to power.

The former Chief Minister also said that regionalism and corruption had reached new heights during the Congress regime. He challenged Mr. Singh for releasing the area- wise lists of fresh recruits of para-teachers, conductors and pharmacists in the State. He charged the Virbhadra regime with indulging in transfer business.

He further informed that the Bharatiya Yuva Janata Morcha would launch a State-wide agitation against the signing of controversial fiscal reforms MoU by the Congress Government. The impact of this move was being already felt with students of all political parties coming together on roads against it. Even farmers and fruit- growers were opposing MoU, which was anti-people, he added.

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