Shimla: Facing a barrage of charges from opposition Congress and mounting dissent within ruling BJP, health minister Rajeev Bindal, amidst high drama in the Himachal Vidhan Sabha today submitted his resignation to chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.
Bindal let the media know that he had become a victim to politics and the corruption charges leveled against him had no basis as he had refuted them on a public platform as well before the house earlier in the day.
Denying that the party had let him down, he said that BJP was solidly behind him and chief minister Dhumal had publicly defended him against the baseless charges being leveled.
When the media caught up with the chief minister, he said that the opposition was unfairly targeting an honest man.
Terming the resignation of Bindal as an emotional outburst, Dhumal said that he would examine the facts and take a decision accordingly.
Releasing a defamation notice served on Mohinder Sofat, a political adversary of Bindal, the minister said that he was hurt by the baseless charges by him about having amassed property illegally.
Earlier opposition Congress continued their boycott of the debate on the Governors address and tried to disrupt the question hour by shouting slogans in the well of the house.
The opposition was demanding resignation of the health minister for charges of corruption leveled against him.
However, the Speaker Tulsi Ram ignored the protest and continued with the question hour, marking the Congress members as absent when their names for questions raised by them were called.
Before the discussion of the motion of thanks to the Governors address was taken up, Bindal rose to make a suo motto statement that was full of rhetoric and sentiment and sprung a surprise by announcing his resignation in the house.
Later speaking in the opposition members lobby, spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Pathania said that the opposition would continue to protest till the chief minister accepts the resignation of the minister.
About the minister having tendered his resignation Pathania said, “the ministers actions validated the charges leveled against him.”
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
