Announced last year, new subdivisions await notification

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, January 5

Two subdivisions announced by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in Kangra district at Shahpur and Nagrota Bagwan are still being awaiting notification. The CM had announced the said sub divisions last year.

The sources here said that the permission for the creation of subdivisions was awaited from the Himachal High Court. Kangra, the most populous and politically most significant district, already had nine subdivisions — Baijnath, Palampur, Jaisinghpur, Kangra, Nurpur, Dehra, Indora, Dharamsala and Jawali. The present government had already opened another sub division at Jawalamukhi. Two more subdivisions at Nagrota Bagwan and Shahpur were announced by the Chief Minister.

The subdivision at Shahpur was announced as a result of the demand raised by Vice-Chairman of Forest Corporation Kewal Singh Pathania and Vice-Chairman of Tourism Development Board Vijai Singh Mankotia. The demand for subdivision at Nagrota Bagwan was the result of the demand of Minister for Transport, Technical Education and Food and Civil Supplies GS Bali who represents the area. Though the Chief Minister initially resisted the demand of new subdivisions he ultimately gave into the pressure exerted by the Congress leaders of the respective areas.

Sources here said that new equations were emerging in Kangra district due to the ongoing spat between GS Bali and the Chief Minister over the former being denied entry on stage during rally of Rahul Gandhi at Dharamsala on December 24. Not-so-cordial relations among Congress leaders might further delay the notifications of the new subdivisions.

When contacted, Bali refused to comment over the issue. Kewal Singh Pathania, however, said the Chief Minister might inaugurate the subdivision office at Shahpur during his winter sojourn starting from January 11.

The winter sojourn of the Chief Minister in Kangra and other district of lower Himachal was an annual exercise. However, this year the first phase of the sojourn is likely to be concentrated in Kangra district only.

It remains to be seen what effect the battle of wits between the Chief Minister and senior minister GS Bali has during the winter sojourn. Minister for Urban Development Sudhir Sharma who represents Dharamsala Assembly constituency had already set the tone for the things to come by making a tweet recently. He tweeted the lines from a song in Bollywood film Dangal ‘Bher ki hahakar ke badle sher ki ek dahar hai pyare…’ The tweet was likely directed at GS Bali. The supporters of Bali reacted on social media against the tweet but it has added fuel to fire of infighting within the Congress.

Sources here said that some of Congress leaders who are unhappy with the power Sudhir Sharma was enjoying due to his proximity to the Chief Minister were making fresh alignments. Though they are not coming in the open some of them are giving moral support to the GS Bali camp to continue to fight.

Meanwhile, this fight within the Congress has already provided enough ammunition to the BJP which was just using the statements of the Congress leaders in media to target them.