Congress rule ‘black chapter' in history of state: Bindal

State BJP president Rajeev Bindal today said the two-year rule of the Congress in Himachal will be remembered as a ‘black chapter’ in the history of the state.

Speaking at the Sangathan Parv celebrated at the state BJP office here today, Bindal said the two-year performance of the Congress regime was disastrous during which all anti-people decisions were taken. “The government has failed to fulfil the guarantees made to the people in the run-up to the 2022 Assembly polls. Rather, it has burdened people by increasing Rs 7 VAT on diesel, increase in stamp duty, power tariff, hike in rates of subsidized ration in fair price shops and water bill in rural areas,” he said.

“Every section of society, be it youth, farmers, women, employees, farmers and fruit growers are disenchanted with the Congress rule,” he said.

BJP state in-charge Shrikant Sharma also lashed out at the Congress for putting the blame for its defeat on the electric voting machines (EVM) when it suited them. Sharma said it is surprising how Congress is blaming the EVMs for its defeat in poll. “What I would like to ask the Congress leaders is why they did not blame the EVMs when they won 99 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 parliamentary polls. Now when the Congress does not perform well like in the Maharashtra Assembly polls, then they say the fault lies with the EVMs,” he said.

Sharma said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is today questioning the authenticity of EVMs but he must answer if Congress and the JMM had hacked the EVMs in Jharkhand where they have won the elections. Even Elon Musk has lauded the electoral system of India so where is the possibility of doubting the EVMs, he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Himachal BJP co-incharge Sanjay Tandon said it is high time Congress realised that the problem in not winning elections lies with its leader Rahul Gandhi and not EVMs. “Kharge should make a demand for changing its leader Rahul rather than putting blame on EVMs,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said BJP's Mahayuti has received a landslide mandate in Maharashtra Assembly elections. “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a new word ‘pro-incumbency’ has been coined which reflects the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.