Infuriated over the allegations of India Against Corruption (IAC) against Priyanka Vadra, in which IAC and BJP leader has demanded probe into possible violation of norms for her, state Congress has demanded an inquiry into the allotment of land meant for tea plantation in the state to India Against Corruption (IAC) leader Prashant Bhushan. Congress sought a probe into possible violations of statutory provisions and administrative procedures for the land transferred to him in Palampur in Kangra district, by the BJP Govt.
Congress leader Harsh Mahajan, in his press communiqué demanded independent inquiry into the land transferred to Prashant Bhushan in 2010. Mahajan asked Bhushan to clarify his motive in buying the land in the state, where land is limited and there is an embargo on outsiders buying it without government permission. “How was Bhushan allowed to buy the property? The (state) government must clarify,” Mahajan added.
A senior government functionary said that Bhushan’s Kumud Bhushan Educational Society was allowed to buy 4.68 hectares of land for the construction of an educational institution on February 2, 2010. Revenue Minister Gulab Singh, in reply to a question, told the state assembly in the last winter session “from Jan 1, 2008, to Nov 30, 2011, land use change” had been allowed under Section 118 of the Land Reforms and Tenancy Act to allow Kumud Bhushan Educational Society of Kandbari (in Kangra district) for purchasing tea gardens. He said the society was run by Prashant Bhushan.
Even Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee president Virbhadra Singh alleged possible violation of the norms on change of land use (from cultivating tea to constructing a school building) for Bhushan and many other BJP protected persons.
Earlier IAC has asked for the detail of Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka Vadra’s property in Shimla and why she was allowed to buy property near Shimla as it is ban for any outsider to own land in Himachal, and which government had granted the permission.
