Shimla: Setting up the agenda for the ensuing by-election to Rohru and Jawali assembly segments announced today, union minister for steel Virbhadra Singh said many failures of the BJP government led by Prem Kumar Dhumal provided enough election issues that would be brought before the people.
Speaking to My Himachal on the sidelines of the BCS sesquicentennial celebrations where Virbhadra was chief guest for the day said other than inaugurating project planned, financed and executed by the by the previous government headed by him, the present government was in limbo and had failed to deliver on all issues promised.
Former MP Pratibha Singh, who was present on the occasion said, if the congress party was willing to field her, she was ready for electoral trial from Rohru seat.
The union minister held that the state government was being discriminatory on regional and caste basis, which was not only against the ethos of the state but the country.
The minister warned that the dilution of domicile tenure for being eligible to a Himachal bonafide certification was totally unacceptable to congress.
“Unless it is reversed soon, much damage would be done. The congress would certainly take remedial measures,†he said
Despite liberal grants being devolved by the central government for various sections and schemes, the state government was everyday protesting, contrary to the facts.
Instead of grumbling, the chief minister should learn to say ‘Thank You’ to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government which does not discriminate between congress ruled and non-congress governments, said Virbhadra.
The BJP government was making hollow claims for taking credits be it in education, health, roads, or other developmental parameters. The facts are that it is on the foundations laid by successive congress governments that the state stands where it is today.â€
Even the India today state of state awards was handed for the 2003-08 period, during which period there was a congress government at the helm for four years, he mentioned.
Apprehending use of state-money and muscle power in the forthcoming by-elections, the five time chief minister said that BJP had used all forces on an unprecedented scale in Himachal, in the last five years.
Being the congress candidate for the Mandi parliamentary seat, six months ago, I was witness to all this. However, we are prepared to arrest this challenge in the coming elections, he said
Virbhadra said that the Dhumal government was being highly vindictive and fabricating cases against opponents by using government machinery to lodge false cases.
“But this nefarious attempts will not only fail but will also ultimately boomerang,†he said.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
