Yog Raj Sharma
The North News
Shimla, November 28
Tensions outside the Himachal Pradesh assembly showed no sign of cooling on the third day of the winter session, as Congress and Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) legislators levelled allegations and counter alleations against each others regarding disaster relief funds and unpaid staff dues at the main entrance of the assembly in Dharamshala.
The morning had barely begun when Congress MLAs gathered at Gate No 1, accusing the central government of stalling ₹1,500 crore in disaster aid that, they said, was essential for families still recovering from the state’s devastating monsoon losses. Within hours, BJP legislators mounted their own protest, accusing the state government of failing to clear employees’ gratuity, medical reimbursements and pension payments. Their chants — including taunts that Congress lawmakers had “run away after begging” — deepened the already fraught atmosphere.
Jairam Thakur, the leader of the opposition, accused the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government of using protests to disguise administrative failures. He said BJP members had been holding a peaceful sit-in until Congress MLAs arrived with placards, escalating the confrontation. “This government wants to fund its comforts with disaster relief,” he claimed. “Employees and pensioners have been denied their rights for months.”
BJP MLAs Vipin Parmar and Sudhir Sharma went further, alleging that the protest placards carried by Congress legislators had been sent from the Chief Minister’s official vehicle — an accusation aimed at portraying the scene as political theatre orchestrated from the top. “The government has no answers, only drama,” Parmar said.
Congress leaders rejected the charge, insisting the confrontation stemmed from the Centre’s failure to release the relief fund that the Prime Minister himself had announced. Congress leaders Kewal Singh Pathania, Jagat Singh Negi and Indora MLA Malendra Rajan accused the BJP of feigning outrage while ignoring the state’s suffering. “This is not about party lines,” Pathania said. “It’s about Himachal’s pain and the rights owed to its people.” Dehra MLA and wife of the Chief Minister, Kamlesh Thakur, said families across the state were still struggling to rebuild after the year’s destruction. “This is the people’s right, not a political favour,” she said. “We will raise this voice until the state gets justice.”
