Kaul Singh with Governor

Vijyender Sharma

SHIMLA----Defying the stand taken by his Congress party and the Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Himachal Pradesh Health Minister Thakur Kaul Singh  toed the BJP line of supporting the Governor Acharya Devvrat on his four point agenda in the state.

Mr Kaul Singh, while talking to mediapersons here, said Governor has selected issues in public interest and controversy should be end in the state interest.

Governor is Constitutional head of the state and he might have suggested our officials on issues selected by him, he said, adding, None of officials from my department complained to me about this meeting.

If the the issue of Governor-CM relation escalates further, the stand taken by Kaul Singh will find central High command frowning.

Yesterday Chief Minister had said in Hamirpur that Governor was acting like monarch. He said a recent meeting of Governor Acharya Devvrat with senior officials was against the democratic norms.

Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, former Minister Chander Kumar, Communist Party of India Marxist (CPIM) also criticized governor for holding meeting of officials. Congress termed it running a parallel government in the state.

While, Raj Bhawan,  issued a clarification on the meeting with officials that neither it was unconstitutional nor any question exists of running parallel government.

Raj Bhawan said that meeting was convened with consent with Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.