IndiaPosted at: Nov 4 2026 1:20PM


Congress launches ‘Bhoomi Bachao–Dhami Hatao’ campaign, accuses Uttarakhand CM of giving away 1,080 acres of public land

New Delhi , Nov 4 (UNI) The Congress on Wednesday launched a statewide agitation against the Uttarakhand government, accusing Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami of facilitating the transfer of thousands of acres of government land and several historic properties to private companies on long-term leases at allegedly throwaway prices. Describing the exercise as the “auction of Uttarakhand”, Congress general secretary and party in-charge of Uttarakhand Kumari Selja held Dhami personally responsible and announced a statewide campaign under the slogan ‘Bhoomi Bachao–Dhami Hatao’ (Save the Land, Remove Dhami).
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Selja alleged that the Chief Minister had concentrated in his own hands the authority to approve the transfer of government properties, determine their valuation and head the board selecting private entities to take them over. “The decision to sell the land and heritage buildings is Dhami’s. The chairman of the board that chooses the buyers is Dhami. The one who sets the price is Dhami again. The single window for selling Uttarakhand is Pushkar Singh Dhami,” she charged, warning that “history will never forgive Dhami”.
Claiming that official government records substantiated her allegations, Selja cited two approvals bearing the Chief Minister’s signatures. The first was a January 2025 approval on page 47 of a Planning Department file concerning the transfer of land at Patwadangar in Nainital, Nagau in Chakrata, Dhanaulti and Magra in Tehri for hotels and resorts. A government order was issued the following day, she said.
She also referred to an electronic file dated November 19, 2025, carrying Dhami’s digital approval stating that the proposal had been cleared as submitted. According to Selja, this approval paved the way for the transfer of 633 acres of the IDPL complex in Rishikesh, around 190 acres at Dakpathar in Vikasnagar, 53 acres of HMT land at Ranibagh and several other properties, including land adjoining Corbett National Park and the State Horticulture Garden at Ramgarh.
“Through these two signatures of Mr Dhami, about 1,080 acres of land belonging to government departments was given away in the name of hotels and investment,” she alleged. She claimed that 40 government land parcels and historic buildings across 12 of Uttarakhand’s 13 districts had been identified for disposal, with several more properties in the pipeline.
Tracing the origins of the policy, Selja alleged that the exercise stemmed from a three-day Chintan Shivir organised by Dhami for his Cabinet colleagues and senior officials in Mussoorie in November 2022. The Cabinet subsequently decided on December 20, 2022, to vest the final authority over government land belonging to different departments in the Chief Minister and establish the Uttarakhand Investment and Infrastructure Development Board (UIIDB) to facilitate the monetisation of public assets.
She said a February 2023 government proposal for the optimum utilisation of vacant government land explicitly provided for the disposal of unused assets, with proposals to be placed before the Chief Minister for final approval. The requirement to obtain fresh consent from the department owning the land was subsequently removed on the ground that the Chief Minister’s approval had already been secured, she alleged. Describing the Mussoorie meeting as “not a Chintan Shivir, but a clearance sale”, she accused the BJP government of designing the policy to benefit industrialists close to the ruling party at the expense of the people of Uttarakhand.
Questioning the haste and transparency of the process, Selja cited the Patwadangar land in Nainital, where a government order issued on January 15, 2025, described the property as belonging to the Agriculture Department, although the Revenue Department began surveying the village only in September that year. The Board of Revenue subsequently recorded that 108 acres were not reflected in the records of either the Forest Department or the Revenue Department, she said.
Despite these discrepancies, a tender was issued to lease 13.64 acres of the property for 90 years, with a reserve price of Rs 37.80 crore and annual rent of just Rs 5 per square metre, she alleged. Tenders had also been floated for the Alaknanda Hotel at Har Ki Pauri and the Inspection Bungalow in Rishikesh. Selja questioned the rationale for leasing public properties for periods ranging from 60 to 90 years, arguing that such arrangements would effectively place them in private hands for generations. She estimated the market value of the properties under consideration at a minimum of Rs 1 lakh crore, citing their strategic locations and irreplaceable character.
The Congress leader also revisited the controversial lease of the George Everest Estate in Mussoorie, alleging that 142 acres of land and heritage property had been handed over to a private company for 15 years at an annual rent of approximately Rs 1 crore, despite its estimated worth of around Rs 30,000 crore. The historic residence and laboratory of Sir George Everest, India’s first Surveyor General, had been restored with a Rs 23 crore loan from the Asian Development Bank before being leased to a private entity, she said. She further questioned the tender process, claiming that all three participating companies were linked to Acharya Balkrishna, an associate of yoga entrepreneur Ramdev.
Raising questions over the legality of the entire exercise, Selja alleged violations of the State Government’s Rules of Business and Section 28 of the UIIDB Act. She maintained that the law required the approval of the State Government, the department concerned and the Board for monetisation of government properties, but the relevant files did not record the consent of the respective departmental Ministers. “The departments were effectively stripped of their land without the consent of their Ministers,” she said, alleging that the process had undermined the principle of collective responsibility of the Council of Ministers.
She also accused the government of disregarding restrictions on the transfer of properties of religious or historical importance. Among the properties facing possible transfer, she listed the Alaknanda Hotel at Har Ki Pauri, the Inspection Bungalow on the banks of the Ganga at Rishikesh and 24 other inspection bungalows, several of them British-era structures dating from 1866 to 1928. These include properties at Ranibagh, Jeolikote, Kainchi Dham, Ramgarh, Lansdowne and along the Kedarnath pilgrimage route. Land earmarked for a medical college and the TB Sanatorium had also figured on the list, she claimed.
Highlighting the Congress’s contribution to Uttarakhand’s development, Selja said farmers at Dakpathar had donated their land free of cost at the request of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Similarly, land at Dhanaulti had been allocated under Congress governments for developing a horticultural fruit belt. “Now the government is preparing to hand over that very land to its favourites,” she alleged.
She said Congress governments had earlier amended the State’s land laws to prevent the sale of land to outsiders and that the party had opposed their dilution in the Assembly. The Congress had also repeatedly raised the George Everest lease issue, including during the October 2024 Assembly proceedings, she added.
Announcing the agitation, Selja said Congress workers were holding protests at 11 government land parcels and properties across Uttarakhand. Senior State Congress leaders would meet the Governor and demand the annulment of decisions allegedly taken in violation of the Rules of Business and the provisions of the UIIDB Act.
A torch march would also be organised in Gairsain, the State’s summer capital, where 40 placards bearing the names of the properties identified for transfer would be displayed and 40 lamps lit in protest. The agitation would subsequently be extended to the remaining properties, she said.
Warning that the party would pursue a legal battle if the Governor did not accept its demand, Selja said the Congress would approach the Uttarakhand High Court seeking the annulment of the Chief Minister’s decisions and judicial scrutiny of the allegedly unconstitutional provisions of the UIIDB Act.
“The Congress has always fought for Uttarakhand’s land, property and identity, and it will not let them pass into private hands. To save them, the Congress will fight from the streets to the courts,” she asserted, declaring that party workers would fight “to their last breath” to protect the State’s land, identity and public assets. UNI SKA AAB
Tags: #Congress launches ‘Bhoomi Bachao–Dhami Hatao’ campaign# accuses Uttarakhand CM of giving away 1#080 acres of public land
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