Rebel Congress MLAs will end up in jail: Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, May 9

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today said that the present elections were a test of the works done by the Congress government. “We are facing a tough fight in all four Lok Sabha seats,” he added.

Sukhu, while addressing a a rally at Dharamsala, said, “We are inquiring about all six Congress rebel MLAs and they will end up in jail.”

Anand for passport office in Chamba

• Congress Candidate for the Kangra seat Anand Sharma promised people that a passport office would be opened in Chamba
• He also promised to get a broad gauge railway line for the Kangra constituency and get tunnels built for improving connectivity to Chamba
• Anand said he would give a separate manifesto for Kangra
• The Agniveer scheme is meant to exploit the Kangra youth, who have the tradition of serving in the Army, he said

He said that former Congress MLA Sudhir Sharma was sold in the “political Mandi”. He praised Congress candidate for the Dharamsala byelection Davinder Jaggi saying that he had been in the Congress and worked for it for the past 30 years.

He accused the Union Government and BJP leaders of deserting the state during the rain disaster last year. He also drew a comparison of Congress candidate from the Kangra parliamentary constituency Anand Sharma with BJP candidate Rajiv Bhardwaj and said that while Sharma was a national leader, Bhardwaj was a greenhorn.

Sukhu said that Sharma was a national leader. “In 2009, it was due to Anand Sharma that Himachal got two big projects of the IIT-Mandi and the Central University of Himachal Pradesh. He also got an NIFT established in Kangra, Kandrori industrial area and a Tea Board of India office in Palampur, he added.

Sukhu said, “As many as 551 people had died in the monsoon fury in the state and 22,000 families were affected. BJP MPs and state leaders did not help the state in getting relief from the Central Government. We got no disaster relief funds from the Union Government. The state government worked to tide over the losses caused by the natural disaster with small contributions from common people. We changed the relief manual and increased the compensation to the affected families from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh.”

HPCC president Pratibha Singh, while addressing the rally, said, “I wrote to BJP MPs, urging them to go together to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek a special package for the state for losses suffered due to the monsoon fury. However, they did not respond to my letter.”

Sharma said, “I am encouraged by the response of people. The BJP had promised to provide two crore jobs every year. People should ask BJP leaders about unfulfilled promises. The Central Government has no policy to tackle unemployment and price rise. The BJP has so much arrogance as if it is going to rule forever.”

He said, “The Agniveer scheme is weakening the defence of country and we will scrap it. The Congress will bring in an apprenticeship scheme under which women will get Rs 1 lakh per annum,” he added.

Rajiv Shukla, Congress in-charge for Himachal, introduced Davinder Jaggi, Congress candidate for the Dharamsala byelection. “Jaggi is not Dal Badlu. He is an honest party worker,” he said while taking a swipe at Congress rebel Sudhir Sharma.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said that Sharma was one of the senior-most leaders of the country. “The Congress candidate is one of the senior-most leaders while the BJP candidate is fighting his first election. The BJP candidate is known just by his relationship with former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar but Anand Sharma is known worldwide,” he added.

He praised Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania, who attended the rally, for ensuring the defeat of the “operation lotus”. “The Congress government needs just one MLA to stay in power while the BJP needs 10 MLAs. Moreover, byelections will be held for only six seats,” he said.

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