The North News
Chandigarh, November 3
Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government, accusing it of completely failing to fulfil the pre-poll “guarantees” it had promised to the people.
Thakur said that all ten guarantees announced by the Congress before coming to power had “fallen flat,” adding that the current regime had done “nothing substantial” for the state’s development. He alleged that the government has been more focused on student politics than governance. “This is not a government but an NSUI unit,” he remarked while addressing media at Chandigarh Press Club in Chandigarh.
The BJP leader criticised the state’s worsening financial condition, claiming that the debt burden has more than doubled under the Congress rule. “When the BJP left office, Himachal’s debt stood at ₹69,000 crore. Today, it has soared to ₹1.5 lakh crore,” he said.
Thakur also pointed to growing political instability, citing the defection of six MLAs and the Congress’s loss of the Rajya Sabha seat as “clear signs of failure.” He added that the Congress government had deliberately stalled several welfare projects initiated under the previous BJP administration. “Many schemes launched during our tenure are still remembered by the people, but this government has shut most of them down,” he said.
Highlighting Himachal’s electoral pattern, Thakur noted that since 1985, governments have changed every five years, with the Congress and BJP alternating in power. “The margin between BJP and Congress in the last election was barely 0.9 percent,” he said, adding that public disillusionment with the Congress’s non-performance will once again pave the way for a BJP comeback.
