I am a victim of political conspiracy: Sukh Ram

“Despite the fact that age is not on my side,I have not lost hope for justice. I am victim of a political conspiracy. My fight will continue till I come out clean from the court of law. That will be a big relief in my life. Soon,I will file an appeal in the high court,” said 84-year-old Sukh Ram said from Noida,where he intends to spent the winters.

In Mandi,the town where Sukh Ram built his political empire,there was more disbelief than shock after the news spread of his conviction by the Delhi court. “We have full faith in the judiciary. Panditji (Sukh Ram) will come clean. We will move the high court. My father has done no wrong,rather,he had done so much work in the telecom sector. His case should not be compared with those of present times,” said Anil Sharma from Mandi.

Fifteen years after his houses at Mandi in Himachal Pradesh and New Delhi were raided by the CBI,leading to the recovery of house amount of cash,Sukh Ram is still fighting a protected legal battle on one side and a battle for his political survival on other side.

Sukh Ram,who earned the hearts of the Himachalis by initiating a telecom revolution in the hills,says the case against him was part of a political conspiracy,as people were jealous and found him to be a threat.

When he was in Delhi’s Tihar Jail,Sukh Ram renewed his political career by forming the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) to overthrow the Congress government led by Virbhadra Singh in 1998. His party won five seats and joined hands with the BJP to form the state’s first coalition government in 1998 under Prem Kumar Dhumal.

This was the big political comeback which Sukh Ram had waited for. He felt his goal was accomplished by removing his political foe Virbhadra Singh from power. In 1993,Sukh Ram — who was then an Union minister in the Narsimha Rao government — nursed ambitions to become the chief minister. He could not do so as Virbhadra Singh had the numbers on his side. In 2003,Sukh Ram broke his alliance with BJP and the Congress returned to power. But in 2004,he merged his party with the Congress at AICC president Sonia Gandhi’s behest to support Pratibha Singh — Virbhadra Singh’s wife — in the Lok Sabha elections. Sukh Ram,however,was not happy and finally retired from politics in 2006 — ahead of the Assembly polls.

When asked about the court’s decision,state BJP spokesman Ganesh Dutt said: “The court has held him guilty. Tomorrow,when the sentence is announced,we will give official reaction. The BJP’s stand on corruption is very clear. The law should take its course.”

State Congress president Kaul Singh Thakur,on the other hand,claimed: “I have not seen the reports,as I was busy campaigning for the Assembly bypoll.”