Jai Ram Thakur targets Sukhu govt over Rs 1,500 women’s aid scheme

Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Jai Ram Thakur has accused the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government of remembering its Assembly election guarantees only in its final year, questioning its decision to extend benefits to 3.5 lakh women instead of the nearly 28 lakh women covered under the original promise.

Reacting to the state Cabinet’s recent decision to provide Rs 1,500 monthly assistance, 300 units of free electricity and Rs 10 lakh insurance cover, Thakur said the Congress had promised Rs 1,500 per month to all women aged 18 to 60 years ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections.

He questioned why the benefit had now been restricted to only 3.5 lakh women when the state has approximately 28 lakh women in the specified age group.

Thakur said the Congress had promised Rs 72,000 to every eligible woman for four years. He estimated the financial liability at around Rs 20,000 crore. Even if assistance was limited to 3.5 lakh women, he said, the annual expenditure would be approximately Rs 625 crore, questioning the provision made for the scheme in the state budget.

He also alleged that the government had restricted its promise of 300 units of free electricity for middle-class families to 3.5 lakh households. He said the BJP would raise issues, including the promised minimum support price for milk, drug abuse, corruption and what he described as the sale of Himachal’s assets during the Assembly’s winter session.

Thakur said the BJP would review the Congress government’s first year in office, including its election guarantees, if voted to power. He claimed that the Congress would lose the next Assembly elections and said people were seeking accountability for the promises made before the polls.

On the FIR registered against BJP MP Kangana Ranaut over her remarks, Thakur said everyone had the right to express their views in a democracy. He described her comments as her personal opinion and termed the registration of an FIR wrong.

He alleged that the state government was targeting people critical of it through police cases, while complaints against social media accounts associated with the Congress were not receiving similar action. The law should be applied equally to everyone, he added.

On Sonia Gandhi’s book, Thakur said he had not read it but had seen reviews published by reputed media organisations. He claimed that some reviews had questioned the factual accuracy of its contents and alleged that the book was an attempt to promote Rahul Gandhi and generate sympathy for him.