Dehradun, Sept. 14 -- The Uttarakhand Congress on Saturday intensified its attack on the state government, alleging that it leased out Mussoorie's George Everest Estate for nominal annual rent to Patanjali co-founder Balkrishna, a close aide of yoga guru Baba Ramdev, calling it the "biggest scam of Uttarakhand till date." Addressing a press conference at the state Congress headquarters in Dehradun on Saturday, senior vice president of the state unit Suryakant Dhasmana alleged that 142 acres of the historic George Everest land was handed over to Balkrishna on a 15-year lease for just Rs.1 crore annually, with a provision for renewal for another 15 years. He claimed that all three companies that participated in the tender belonged to Balkrishna, a direct violation of the tender norms. "This is the biggest scam in Uttarakhand till date. While the youth of the state are still agitating for a strong land law, the BJP government, at the behest of the Centre, is leasing out precious land in hills to outsiders," Dhasmana said. He demanded a CBI probe into the matter under the supervision of a sitting high court judge. Reacting to Congress' allegations, state BJP media in-charge Manveer Singh Chauhan said the site was allotted for tourism activities under proper legal procedures, and there is no restriction on public movement or local activities around the park. "The Congress charges are a bundle of lies...completely detached from facts," Chauhan said. Dhasmana said as part of the first phase of its agitation, Congress workers will burn effigies of the state government at all district headquarters on Sunday. "In the next phase, a delegation led by state president Karan Mahara and leader of opposition Yashpal Arya will meet Governor Lt Gen Gurmit Singh (retd) and submit a memorandum on the issue," he said. Dhasmana also said that 500k signatures will be collected from the state under the party's nationwide signature campaign against "vote theft" being launched on September 15. "In Uttarakhand, the drive will be launched from Dehradun and extended to all 70 assembly constituencies. Five lakh signatures will be collected from the state and handed over to national president Mallikarjun Kharge, who along with Rahul Gandhi will submit the consolidated signatures to the ECI," Dhasmana said. Senior leaders will be appointed as in-charges for each constituency, he said. On the party's organisation revamp programme, Dhasmana said observers have completed opinion polls in all organisational districts across nine administrative districts of the state, while the remaining four districts will be covered this month. "Reports will be sent to the central leadership, which will announce new presidents after consultations with senior state leaders," he said. On August 27, Uttarakhand Congress in-charge Kumari Selja arrived in Dehradun to discuss Sangathan Srijan (organisation-revamp) campaign in the state. Speaking to media persons after a meeting with senior leaders of the state unit and MLAs at state headquarters in Dehradun, Selja said, "We held detailed discussions on our Sangathan Srijan (organisation-revamp) campaign. This exercise has already been carried out in some states with positive results. From September 2, the AICC (All India Congress Committee) will be sending an observer to each district, accompanied by three observers from the state." "They will stay in all districts for a week or so, interact with candidates, party leaders, workers and various organisations, and submit their report to the central leadership. Based on their findings, district presidents will be appointed. Those performing well can also be repeated, but there is a strong desire across the party for new leadership and fresh energy in every district," the state party in-charge added....