# Rebellion in Himachal Pradesh Congress over bus conductor scam An ordinary written test to recruit bus conductors in Himachal Pradesh has created a major political crisis in the hill state. Nineteen MLAs have approached chief minister Virbhadra Singh alleging a scam in the recruitment process and signed a petition demanding the cancellation of the test and interviews. They say that state transport and technical education minister GS Bali is using his clout to recruit people from his constituency. The state has 680 posts for transport multi-purpose assistants (TMPAs) and some 35,000 candidates took the exam on October 19. The MLAs allege that of the candidates who cleared the written exam, 357 are from Nagrota, Congress MLA Bali`s constituency, and about 100 have scored 80% or above, which would almost guarantee them an appointment. Congress has 35 legislators in the 68-member assembly. Opposition BJP had raised the issue of the recruitment scam in the state assembly during the recently concluded winter session. A couple of Congress MLAs had even threatened to resign if they were not allowed to raise the issue in the assembly, a senior party leader said. They were pacified after much effort but later 19 MLAs signed the petition.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 12:12:04 +0000