Congress won three bypoll by misusing govt power: Himachal LoP Jai Ram Thakur

Shimla, Jul.y 22

Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur today said that the Congress had won three of the nine byelections by misusing power and influence of the state government.

Ex-cm: Debt will cross Rs 1L cr

Our government had taken Rs 19,600 crore loans in its five-year tenure but the present Congress government has broken all past records and raised more loans within 18 months of its rule. Himachal will create a record by crossing the Rs 1 lakh crore debt mark. — Jai Ram Thakur, Leader of opposition

Thakur, while talking to mediapersons here, said that had the three Assembly byelections in Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagarh been held with the Lok Sabha elections on June 1, the outcome would have been different. “However, the BJP respects the public mandate as sometimes there is defeat and sometimes victory,” he added.

He said, “Our government had taken Rs 19,600 crore loans in its five-year tenure but the present Congress government has broken all past records and raised more loans within 18 months of its rule. Himachal will create a record by crossing the Rs 1 lakh crore debt mark,” he claimed.

Thakur said that his government had inherited a debt liability of over Rs 50,000 crore and his government had to raise loans to repay previous liabilities. He added that his government took loans and ensured that there was uniform and balanced development of the state. “None of the announcements made by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and his ministers have been fulfilled. Most of the projects that the Chief Minister is inaugurating were conceived during the previous BJP government, which had also provided budget,” he claimed.

Thakur lashed out at the Congress for making false promises to the electorate in the run up to the 2022 Assembly elections. “The Congress should not have made promises and guarantees if it was not in a position to fulfil these, considering the precarious financial health of the state,” he added.