Himachal government withdraws facilities of ex-Cabinet minister

The Himachal Pradesh government on Tuesday decided to withdraw facilities, including free accommodation and staff, provided to former Cabinet minister Anil Sharma who resigned on April 12.

The facilities included furnished accommodation, a luxury car, private secretaries, besides private security staff and peons.

Sharma resigned after purported remarks by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur against him as he had refused to campaign against his son and Congress candidate Ashray Sharma.

He has not resigned either from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or from the state Assembly. So he will continue to exercise facilities extended as a legislator.

"Jai Ram Thakur gave some statements against me in my constituency and I am upset. I decided to quit from his Cabinet and submitted my resignation to his office," Sharma, who held the power portfolio, told reporters here.

The friction between the Chief Minister and Sharma surfaced when the latter's son Ashray Sharma left the BJP and rejoined the Congress along with his grandfather Sukh Ram, a former Union Telecom Minister.

Ashray Sharma is the Congress candidate from Mandi. He is pitted against the BJP's sitting MP Ram Swaroop Sharma.IANS