Bali-Sharma tussle: Congress on sticky wicket

SHIMLA: With the state going in for elections later this year, senior minister G S Bali’s confrontational approach has put the ruling Congress party and the government on a sticky wicket.
Ever since he was allegedly not allowed to share the dais with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi during a rally in Dharamshala, Bali has made his resentment evident. He stormed out of the CM’s office on Saturday, after a heated argument with him on the issue.
The HP Congress unit had organized a rally in Dharamshala on December 24 to celebrate four years in power.As many as 45 Congress leaders were allowed to share the dais with Rahul Gandhi, who addressed the rally. However, Bali has alleged that he was not allowed to do so despite the Kangra SP issuing him a pass.
According to highly placed sources in the government, Bali had raised the issue with the CM at the latter’s office on Saturday evening. “The chief minister told Bali that his name was there in the list and he was issued the pass, then why did he make an issue (not going up on the dais) out of it,” they said.
Among others present during the discussion included the chief minister’s officer on special duty Amit Pal Singh, principal adviser T G Negi, health minister Kaul Singh Thakur and Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank chairman Harsh Mahajan among others.
Bali has upped the ante against his own government after the Dharamshala rally, even questioning the government’s performance by raising the issue of unemployment allowance.
According to sources, rivalry between urban development minister Sudhir Sharma and Bali, both representing Kangra district in the government, has been the root cause of the ongoing dispute.