PALAMPUR, November 9– Shanta Kumar former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader today claimed that after the ensuing assembly elections BJP would form the government in the state. Shanta Kumar predicted that BJP would sweep the polls and it would easily win over forty five-assembly seats in the state.
In an exclusive interview at his residence Yamni Complex here this morning former Chief Minister said that he had just finished the election campaign in Tribal areas of Lauhal –Spiti and Kinnaur where BJP was in comfortable position and would win both the seats.
Shanta Kumar said BJP would give a united fight to congress and avoid the division of votes, therefore BJP had involved even the grass root workers in the allotment of party tickets. While allotting party tickets main criteria would be neat and clean image, sincerity towards party and maximum winning prospectus. He said there could be problems in few constituencies in the allotment of party tickets but it would also be solved as the BJP was disciplined and cadre based political party. BJP was also in favor of giving party tickets to women, youths and new faces in the state. In reply to a question, he said for the first time BSP was contesting all the 68 assembly seats in the state as third force, it would cause loss to congress and BJP both.
He said corruption would figure as key election issue in the coming assembly elections in the state because of the fact that at present the common in the state had fed up with corrupt regime of congress party. He said in past five years congress government in the state had turned into a party of corrupt officers and politicians. It was evident from the fact that number of bureaucrats and technocrats close to Vir Bhadara Singh had faced charges of corruption, which even compelled Vir Bhadara Singh to replace his private secretary.
Not only ministers but the Chief Minister him self had involved in many scams. The audio CD released by the former congress MLA Major Vijay Singh Mankotia had exposed the Chief Minister Vir Bhadara Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh, who had allegedly entered into financial deals with industrialists in that CD. He said till yesterday Vir Bhadara Singh was claiming himself as “Mr. Clean†but after the release of audio CD he could not befool the people of the state.
He said wrong policies and faulty planning of congress party and brought the state on the verge bankruptcy, there was complete financial mess in the state. Though there is congress government in the center but it too had failed to bail out the Vir Bhadara Singh government from financial crises. Even the promises made by the Prime Minister during his visit to the state last year were not fulfilled and state failed to get financial grant of rupees 4400 crore announced by the prime minister. The bitter relations of Vir Bhadra Singh with the central leaders had caused immense loss to the state as state failed to get special financial package at par with the states like Bihar, West Bengal and Tamilnadu.
The development activities in the state had come to stand still. The conditions of state and national high ways had gone from bad to worse. The rural roads had turned into drains making life of rural people virtually hell, he added
Mr. Kumar said BJP was committed to provide neat and clean administration to the people of the state. He said functioning of the BJP government would be more transparent and it would initiate effective steps to eradicate corruption from the public life in the state.
A senior journalist from Palampur.
