Shimla, Oct 27 (PTI) BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur on Monday lashed out at the Himachal Pradesh government over its proposal to relax a section of the tenancy and land reforms law, alleging that Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is eager to hand over the state’s assets to his business allies.

In a press statement, the leader of opposition in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly said the government’s effort to ease the provisions of Section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act is totally unacceptable.

Section 118 of the Act restricts the transfer of land in the state to non-agriculturists.

“From the very first day of coming to power, the CM Sukhu-led state government has been eager to hand over the state’s assets and interests to his business allies. It is clear that the CM has now become a puppet in the hands of corrupt officials and mafias,” Thakur charged.

“After legalising betting and gambling under the pressure of the mafia, the CM is now gambling with the state’s interests. Since coming to power, he has taken it upon himself to auction the state’s heritage and cultural assets,” the BJP leader said.

“The CM is talking about simplifying the rules under Section 118, but his record shows that he has always ignored the state’s interests to favour his business friends and associates,” he added.

Thakur said the state’s resources should be utilised for the welfare of its people and protection of the environment, and not for benefitting a select few.

The Himachal Pradesh Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) also hit out at the state government over the issue and warned that it will launch a mass movement if the government goes ahead with the amendment.

In a press statement, CPI(M) state secretary Sanjay Chauhan said, “We will not tolerate any attempt to sell the resources, such as land, water and forests, of the state to the corporates… Relaxing the act is not just against the interests of the people of the state but is also against the environment as well as the ecology of the state.” Be it the Congress or the BJP, both parties try to relax the rules under the Act when they are in power so that they can sell the state’s resources. But when they are in opposition, both of them object to it. This exposes their double standards, Chauhan said. PTI COR DIV DIV