Himachal BJP claims credit for nod to Leh rail line project

By: Ravinder Makhaik

Shimla:Terming it as a visionary project of chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, BJP on Tuesday said that the central government accepting a feasibility report for laying a rail track to Leh had proved congress detractors wrong, who had dismissed it as day dreaming when the idea was mooted.
 
Khushi Ram Balnahta, BJP spokesman said that it was chief minister Dhumal who had convinced the central government for the need of a rail line to Leh, not just for defence purposes but also to meet the needs of the hill state.
 
Congress leaders, especially former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, had mocked the idea saying the Dhumal government was day dreaming, he said.
 
Now that the central government technical team has approved the feasibility report, congress party is laying claim that it was their government at the center which had approved the project for the benefit of Himachal, he added.
 
Speaking to the media, Balnahta sought an apology from congress candidate Dhani Ram Shandil for abandoning his electorate in their hour of need, when natural calamity in the form of incessant rains damaged farm lands, infrastructure and claimed about 50 lives, last year.
 
Asserting that the party’s election campaign was gaining ground, the spokesman said, “in troubled times Shandil never stood with his people and instead of seeking votes should apologize for neglecting them.”
 
He claimed that 90% funds that Shandil marked under MP Local Area Development (MPLAD), never reached the rural schemes for which they had been approved.
 
He disclosed that central party leaders which include BJP’s prime ministerial candidate LK Advani, president Rajnath Singh and other leader would campaign in the state after May 5. “The party was gaining all over the state and would win all four seats in the May 13 poll,” claimed Balnahta.