Manali, April 10
Leader of Opposition and former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur on Friday strongly criticized Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, accusing him of portraying himself as helpless and blaming the BJP for governance failures. Addressing mediapersons in Dhalpur, Thakur said the Congress government was trying to hide its shortcomings by targeting the previous BJP regime. He claimed that while the BJP government had taken a loan of around ₹19,500 crore, the present Congress Government had borrowed nearly ₹40,000 crore in just three years, yet development work has stalled and public benefits remain limited.
He also accused the Chief Minister of misleading people over the closure of RDG grants and blaming the Center for the state’s financial condition. Thakur asserted that the economic situation had deteriorated due to the state government’s own decisions, adding that people were now protesting against its policies.
Commenting on the high court ruling restoring pensions of former MLAs, Thakur said the verdict had exposed the state government. He alleged that the law to stop pensions was passed by a majority without proper consideration and was driven by political vendetta. He added that the court not only ordered restoration of pensions but also directed payment with interest and penalties, terming it a setback for the government.
