Dehradun, Sept. 15 -- The Uttarakhand unit of the Congress on Sunday staged a protest in Dehradun, demanding a high level-inquiry into allegations of irregularities in the state government's leasing out Mussoorie's George Everest Estate to Patanjali co-founder Acharya Balkrishna. The protest march began at the party headquarters and proceeded to Quality Chowk on Rajpur Road. Addressing the event, state senior vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana allleged that the tender process violated basic norms of transparency, and referred to it as "complete fraud." He alleged that the three companies that participated in the tender were all linked to Balkrishna. "For just Rs.1 crore annually, with a provision to renew for another 15 years, property worth trillions has been handed over. A high-level investigation under the supervision of a sitting High Court judge is the only way the truth will come out," Dhasmana said. The estate was established in 1832 by Sir George Everest, who lent his moniker to the world's highest peak. According to Dhasmana, the estate was first handed over to Rajas Aerosports on a pilot basis in 2021 for one year. "In December 2022, the tourism department extended the arrangement on a 15-year lease, with the possibility of another 15 years. We are questioning why no global tender was issued, why the bid was not advertised in national newspapers, and why basic terms of transparency were ignored", he said. Speaking at the protest, Dhasmana accused the Dhami government of "breaking all records of corruption". "After paper leaks, recruitment scams, mining and liquor corruption, this George Everest scam is proof that the government is neck-deep in corruption. We will fight a decisive battle against this injustice," he said. Dhasmana said state Congress chief Karan Mahra and leader of Opposition Yashpal Arya were scheduled to meet the governor and submit a memorandum demanding a probe into thematter. "We have vowed that the agitation will continue until a high-level inquiry is ordered and all bid documents are made public", he said. Responding to the allegations, BJP state media in-charge Manveer Singh Chauhan said the Congress was spreading "a bundle of lies" on the issue. "All legal procedures under Uttarakhand Procurement Rules 2017 were followed when e-tenders were invited for the operation, management and development of aerosports activities at the site," Chauhan said....