Dharamshala, May 9
Chaudhary Chand Kumar on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the BJP ahead of the Dharamshala Municipal Corporation elections, expressing confidence that the Congress would emerge victorious in the civic polls. Addressing a press conference in Dharamshala as a senior Congress observer, Chand Kumar described the BJP as a “divided party” and alleged that the Smart City project had turned Dharamshala into a “concrete jungle”.
He said the Smart City blueprint was prepared during the previous Congress government, when the current Dharamshala MLA, Sudhir Sharma, was serving as Urban Development Minister. However, he alleged that essential facilities, such as sewerage systems, were not properly included in the project and that development works were carried out in an unplanned manner.
The minister claimed that despite spending crores of rupees, residents were still deprived of basic civic amenities and Dharamshala neither resembled a model town nor a properly developed city. He also demanded a detailed investigation into alleged irregularities linked to automatic dustbins, non-functional streetlights and other Smart City works.
Chand Kumar further targeted the BJP over the Tulip Garden project, alleging that construction had been carried out on forest land without proper approval before being handed over to the Forest Department.
Defending the functioning of the Congress government, the minister said the state government had fulfilled several major guarantees despite financial challenges. He referred to the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme, procurement of cow milk at Rs 60 per litre and buffalo milk at Rs 80 per litre, along with a Rs 235 crore dairy project at Dhagwar.
He also accused the BJP of misusing central agencies such as the ED and CBI and alleged that the party had a culture of destabilising elected governments. On complaints about voters being shifted between wards, Chand Kumar said objections could have been raised during the revision process and assured that any complaints received would be examined.
