Congress govt implemented 5 'hidden guarantees' in Himachal, says BJP; CM Sukhu fires back

The BJP on Monday accused Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu of not fulfilling the Congress' poll promises and implementing five “hidden guarantees” instead.

Addressing senior party leaders in Mandi district, BJP state chief Rajiv Bindal alleged the state government stopped development work and raised loans worth Rs 25,000 crore in 22 months as a consequence of its financial mismanagement and obliging friends.

Responding to the allegations, Sukhu claimed there was internal conflict and the BJP was divided into factions.

Even the prime minister is being given misleading reports by state BJP leaders, he said.

Speaking at a meeting on party membership and organisational elections in Mandi's Sundernagar area, Bindal said the Congress government shut 1,500 institutions and scrapped the Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission.

Instead of providing one lakh jobs every year, Sukhu burdened people by increasing tax on diesel, stamp duty, price of cement, and discontinuing free water and electricity supply, Bindal said and called these the Congress' “hidden guarantees”.

He also said development work being carried out in the state such as the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, four-lane and ropeway projects, Jal Jeevan Mission and Ayushman Bharat, among others, were centrally sponsored.

Hitting back at Bindal, Chief Minister Sukhu told reporters in Hamirpur that his government had fulfilled five of its 10 guarantees and was actively working towards fulfilling the remainder.

He also accused the BJP leaders of engaging in politics based on misinformation.

BJP leaders are issuing daily statements to grab the headlines but they lack a unified stance, Sukhu said.

“There is internal conflict and the BJP is divided into factions. Even the prime minister is being given misleading reports by state BJP leaders,” he added.

“No one has informed the prime minister that government employees in Himachal Pradesh received their salaries twice in October as the salary for September was credited on October 5 and the advance salary for October credited on October 28 in view of Diwali,” the chief minister said.

The quality of facilities in Himachal Pradesh declined during the BJP's term, the Congress leader said and added that his dispensation was persistently working to improve these services.