Fulfil election promises or resign: Bhatia to Sukhu

BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia today said that Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu should either fulfil the guarantees made to the people of the state before the 2022 Assembly elections or resign.

Bhatia, while addressing mediapersons here, said that the Congress government had become synonymous with corruption, not honouring promises and deteriorating law and order. “In the run up to the 2022 Assembly elections, the Congress made promises but did not fulfil these after coming to power. The people of the state want answers from the Chief Minister as to why the Congress has not honoured the guarantees,” he added.

He said, “Priyanka Gandhi had announced that five lakh jobs would be given, including one lakh in the very first Cabinet meeting. The promise to provide Rs 1,500 per month to 28 lakh women has not been fulfilled and now riders have been added to it to deprive many of them.” He added, “The Congress is only concerned about the well being of one family and is least bothered about the people of Himachal.”

Bhatia alleged that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi could only give the guarantees of corruption and economic crisis. “It is very sad to see that the government does not even have money to give salaries to its employees. The government has no dearth of money when it comes to allocating Cabinet ranks to loyalists,” he added.

He said, “Barbadi ka jashan nahin ho sakta. We fail to understand what are the two-year celebrations about with no achievements. Himachal is making national headlines about a near bankruptcy situation where the government is unable to pay salaries to its employees.”

He said that on the contrary, the state government had burdened people financially by increasing VAT on diesel by Rs 7, raising stamp duty by 500 per cent, imposing ‘toilet tax’ and an inquiry into a missing ‘samosa’. He added that the Central Government had provided Rs 1 lakh crore to Himachal for the construction of four-lane roads and national highways, Rs 2,000 crore under MGNREGA, Rs 1,800 crore for disaster mitigation and Rs 4,300 crore under the Jal Jivan Mission.

Bhatia said, “Even if the state government has failed in its duty, the Central Government will ensure that Himachal progresses, as it is the crown of the country. There is no question of discrimination against any state, including Himachal.”