Shimla: Calling it ‘emotional blackmailing’ BJP on Tuesday said that Sonia Gandhi dropping the figure of Rs 23,000 crore aid for Himachal Pradesh by the UPA government was only for public consumption so as to attract voters.
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Speaking to the media, Suresh Chandel, former MP and BJP campaign incharge sought to know the basis of the congress president’s claim that such large funds had been devolved to the state.
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“Without substantiating UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, at her Shimla rally on Saturday stated that the central government had allocated Rs 23,000 crore’s for Himachal over the last five years which she said was much higher than the Rs 13,000 crore that the Vajpayee led NDA government had during its term,†said Chandel.
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It is only at election time that congress has come up with this figure and the party needs to disclose for what schemes these funds have been allocated. On the other hand the party had failed to disclose why the Rs 4200 crore package which prime minister Manmohan Singh announced for Himachal was never backed up with any allocation to the effect, he added.
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UPA experiment has proved a failure, he said, allies are all deserting the sinking ship, cabinet colleagues like Ramadoss, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan are accusing congress of betrayal, and the government failed to protect the common man from rising prices and terrorism.
Thousands of stock holders have suffered huge losses in the market and unemployment is only rising, he said.
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He said BJP’s election campaign was entering its last phase in which national party leaders, LK Advani, party president Rajnath Singh, senior leaders Sushma Swaraj and Narinder Modi would hold public meetings in all four parliamentary segments.
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Performance of the chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal’s government over the past 14 months would work to the advantage of BJP, he said.
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Asserting that BJP was on a strong footing in Hamirpur parliamentary segment where the party has fielded Anurag Thakur, son of the chief minister, Chandel said that Babu Ram Mandyal, a former BJP legislator had been served a notice and put under suspension for anti-party activities in the constituency.
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Chandel, who himself has represented Hamirpur seat on three occasions in parliament but had to vacate the seat after a sting over cash for query exposed him said, the seat is a traditional stronghold of BJP and the party would win it with a thumping margin.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads the team of media professionals at Hill Post.
In a career spanning over two decades through all formats of journalism in Electronic, Print and Online Media, he brings with him enough experience to steer this platform. He lives in Shimla.
