Under attack from Congress and CPI(M) for convening meeting of officers and being accused of running a parallel government, Himachal Governor Acharya Devvrat today said that the meeting was called with the consent of chief minister Virbhadra Singh.
"Some adverse comments have been made regarding the meeting of officers and social organisations convened by the governor on November 3 which even alleged that it is like running a parallel government and unconstitutional but the meeting was called after lengthy discussions between the Governor and chief minister," a Raj Bhawan release here said.
The meeting was earlier proposed to be held on September 30 last and "even the ministers were invited" to the meeting but on the written request of the government on September 26, the meeting was deferred to October and the chief minister was requested to give time any day between October 28 and 31 and the Secretary to governor personally met the chief minister in this regard, the statement said.
The statement further said that after consultations with chief minister, the ministers were not invited to the meeting and only officers and representatives of social organisations were invited and the entire correspondence in this context is available in the Raj Bhawan.
"Raj Bhawan wants to make it clear that all the concerned parties had prior information of the meeting and the government had consented to it and as such it was wrong to say that the move was like running a parallel government," the statement said.
The four point agenda for the meeting was in the interest of every citizen of the state and there was nothing as "unconstitutional or political," in it, the statement added.
On Tuesday, the Governor had convened a meeting of secretaries and other stakeholders at Raj Bhawan and urged for launching active social campaigns for creating awareness about increasing drug menace, caste discrimination, organic farming and environmental issues, which are "crucial" for the development of the state.
