BJP plans 'Jan Akrosh rally' in Dharamsala on December 18

After the Congress organised a rally in Bilaspur yesterday to mark two years of its government, the BJP has planned a counter rally in Dharamsala on December 18. The party has announced that it will organise a ‘Jan Akarosh’ rally at the Zorawar stadium in Dharamsala.

The senior leadership in the state has already started making preparation for the rally. State president of BJP Rajiv Bindal will be in Dharamsala tomorrow to oversee preparations for the rally. Today, chief spokesperson of state BJP Rakesh Jamwal held a meeting with the district office-bearers of the party to make preparation for the rally.

The BJP's rally will coincide with the winter session of the Himachal Assembly that is starting in Dharamsala on December 18. Sources say that the BJP, besides targeting the government on state issues, will focus on Kangra-based issues. Former and sitting MLAs of the BJP from Kangra district have been given the task of ensuring workers' presence in the rally. The party leadership has given each sitting or former MLA a target of bringing at least 1,000 workers to the rally. The onus is on Dharamsala MLA Sudhir Sharma and Kangra MLA Pawan Kajal to ensure that maximum number of party workers take part in the rally.

The rally is also expected to set the tone for the winter session of Himachal Assembly, which is likely to be stormy in which the BJP is expected to target the government on issues mentioned in the memorandum submitted to the Governor yesterday.

Chief spokesperson of the BJP Rakesh Jamwal, While talking to newsmen here, said that the two-year tenure of the Congress government in the state had not been less than a disaster. He added that the Congress government was selling the resources of the state to please its friends. "All development works have come to a halt. The economic condition of the state has worsened and no new resources have been generated. But for taking loans, the present government has done nothing," he alleged.

Jamwal said that not one woman had been given representation in the Cabinet. "Congress state president Pratibha Singh was publicly insulted. She was not even given a chance to speak on the stage. This shows the Congress' insensitivity towards women. Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri repeatedly claims that he has provided employment that the previous BJP government could not do even in five years. If the government has done so much for the youth, he should issue a White Paper on this achievement," he added.

He accused the Congress government of breaking promises and said that those who talked about ending outsourced recruitment and ensuring regular appointments before the Assembly elections had extended outsourced jobs to many other government departments.