Political drama: Is BJP being sidelined in Himachal Pradesh's development plans?

Leader of Opposition in Himachal Pradesh Jai Ram Thakur on Monday said only priorities of Congress MLAs close to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu are being considered while the BJP legislatures are being ignored and disrespected.

BJP would boycott the Himachal government's meeting

Addressing the media here, a day after announcing that the legislatures of opposition BJP would boycott the Himachal government's meeting to discuss developmental priorities for their constituencies, he said that some of the Congress MLAs have contacted him to tell him that their priorities have also been ignored and they are sailing in the same boat.

"For the past two years, BJP legislatures have been attending the MLA's priority meeting but unfortunately even the process of preparing a detailed project report (DPR) of priorities given by the MLAs has not started in majority of the projects, he said, claiming that if the DPR is prepared it is not being forward for execution.

Centre provides special assistance to HP

Thakur said the funds of special assistance given by the Centre to Himachal for infrastructure development are being spent on paying salaries and pension of the government employees and pensioners which is against the rule. He further alleged that the deputy commissioners are only listening to the Congress leaders close to CM Sukhu and sealing has been made on the treasury and only Rs 10,000 are given against Rs 3 lakh sanctioned from Vidhayak Nidhi by the MLAs.

"There is no point attending the meeting when the priorities are not being considered and the BJP MLAs have unanimously said that they are being ignored and disrespected, the LoP said, adding that they would take up their issues during the upcoming Vidhan Sabha budget session.

What is the relevance of the meetings?

Claiming that development has come to a standstill in the state, the former chief minister cited an example from his assembly constituency Seraj and said that during the previous BJP regime, he had sanctioned Rs 10 crores for horticulture and forestry college, 205 bigha of land was acquired, forest clearance were taken and tender process was started after he laid the foundation stone. However, the present government has halted the tender process and Rs 10 crore has been taken back from the Public Works Department, he said.

On Sunday, Thakur in a statement said that "what is the relevance of such meetings when the works mentioned by the MLAs over the past two years have not been completed, and the government is harassing and victimising BJP MLAs and their families by registering cases against them while importance is being to defeated and rejected Congress leaders.

Power is not permanent

The MLA priorities meetings are a routine exercise that has been ongoing for more than three decades, and district-wise meetings are scheduled for February 3 and 4. This is the first time that the main opposition party has announced its intention to boycott the meetings.

"The manner in which the Sukhu government is misusing the police is unprecedented in the history of Himachal," Thakur had said and cautioned the concerned officers that "power is not permanent, and those misusing it should refrain from such acts and respect the law".

(Except for the headline, nothing has been changed by AINN in the PTI copy)