CM Sukhu’s benevolence limited to Dehra constituency: Parmar

The BJP today targeted Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu for favouring the Dehra Assembly constituency represented by his wife Kamlesh Thakur in Kangra district.

Sullah MLA and former Vidhan Sabha Speaker Vipin Singh Parmar, while addressing mediapersons here, said that the Chief Minister had opened his office in Dehra whereas his office in Dharamsala had been non-functional for the past about two years. The Chief Minister was showering his benevolence only on the Dehra Assembly constituency.

He said, “We welcome development in the Dehra region but it should not come at the cost of other areas of the state. The other areas of the state and Kangra district should not be given a step-motherly treatment. I will ask a question if the Chief Minister will open his offices in other parts of the state as well.”

Parmar said that the Chief Minister, after coming to power, had closed down 1,500 institutions opened by the previous BJP government, including schools and hospitals, on the pretext that they were a wastage of money and a burden on the state treasury. However, now an SP office had been opened in Dehra though there was no crime in the region. Besides, the circle offices of Superintendent Engineers of the Jal Shakti and Electricity departments had also been opened in Dehra. “Are all these not a burden on the state ex-chequer,” he added.

Parmar said that since the formation of Himachal, successive governments had recognised Dharamsala as the second capital of the state. Former Congress Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had started the tradition of organising the winter sojourn at Dharamsala in Kangra district. During the winter sojourn, the Chief Minister along with his staff used to stay at Dharamsala and listen to the grievances of people from lower areas of Himachal at his office in the Dharamsala secretariat.

The Chief Ministers of the BJP governments also continued the tradition of holding the winter sojourn in Kangra. However, the current Chief Minister discontinued the tradition of holding the winter sojourn in Dharamsala, he alleged.

Parmar alleged that the present government had burdened the residents of the state with taxes. The state was in the midst of a financial crisis. Daily orders and notifications of the government were defaming Himachal. The police were busy inquiring about the disappearance of ‘samosas’ ordered for the Chief Minister from a five star hotel rather that checking crime.