Mankotia removed as Vice Chairman of HP Tourism Board

In a sudden move, the Himachal Pradesh government today removed veteran Congress leader and former minister Vijay Singh Mankotia from the post of vice chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Board.
Mankotia confirmed that he had received a letter, informing him about this.
When asked to comment on the matter, he said that he would speak out in detail later.
A five-time MLA and twice minister in governments headed by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Mankotia had lost the elections in 2012 and was later appointed vice chairman of the state tourism board.
Mankotia, considered a firebrand leader, had been critical of the government for some time and had recently said that "it will be difficult to fight the BJP , which has made corruption its main issue".

Mankotia was denied a Congress ticket in the 1982 assembly polls and won as an independent. But he later joined the Congress after Virbhadra Singh became the chief minister.