Shimla, July 29: A Himachal Pradesh minister shown on TV allegedly dancing with call-girls has resigned.
STAR News cameras caught the state’s tourism and transport minister G.S. Bali grooving away with the women at a party that he claimed was thrown by friends, mostly barons, NRIs and officials. The event, held on June 26 night at a Dharamshala hotel, was to celebrate the minister’s 54th birthday the next day.
Chief minister Virbhadra Singh confirmed the resignation this morning. “I had asked the minister to submit his resignation on Saturday night. He did and the letter has been accepted by governor V.S. Kokje today.”
Bali, a two-time MLA from the Nagrota Bagwan in Kangra district (1998 and 2003), has threatened to sue the reporter and the channel, saying they “twisted facts” about the party. “It was a family gathering and my family members were present but the channel did not show the entire picture. I did not organise a mujra nor were the dancers call-girls,” Bali said today.
The channel claimed five Delhi “call-girls” were at the gathering of close friends. Prominent among the buddies was Subhash Ahluwalia, a former principal secretary to the chief minister and the current tourism secretary.
On July 27, the celebrations shifted to Nagrota. Ghazal singer Peenaz Masani and other artistes performed at the programme. The chief minister was also present.
Bali complained to Singh that the sting operation was motivated, but the chief minister said he asked him to quit to uphold the “tradition and values” of the Congress.
According to the Singh, Bali went to the party with his wife and daughter and left after cutting the cake.
The chief minister described it as a “one-off incident” that would have no impact on the image of the government.
This isn’t Bali’s first brush with birthday blues. In 2003, 200 people took ill because of food poisoning at his bash.
On another occasion, he was linked to a controversial musical soiree in which cash went missing.
The revelations about Bali come close on the heels of a CD accusing the chief minister and his wife of corruption.
