BJP accuses Himachal Congress of 'disrespecting' state unit chief at party function

Shimla, Dec 12 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday said that state Congress chief Pratibha Singh was disrespected and prevented from speaking at a celebration marking the completion of two years of the Congress government in office.

Speaking to the media here, Thakur termed the act an “insult” to Singh and described it as unfortunate.

Pratibha Singh is the wife of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, and their son, Vikramaditya Singh, is the state's Public Works Minister.

Singh appeared visibly upset after she was asked to cut short her speech at the program in Bilaspur on Wednesday.

"Aap nahi chahte ki mein jyada boloon, ant hi kar rahi thi, mein jyada koi lambi baat nahin kar rahi thi, mein to sangathan ke baat hi kar rahi thi, aisa nahin bolna hota yaar (You don’t want me to speak more, I was just ending, I wasn't giving a lengthy speech, I was just talking about the organization, you shouldn’t say this, friend)," she said.

Thakur also criticised the two-year celebration of the Congress government, calling it a "funeral procession." He claimed the government had no achievements to list and that its leaders could not respond to BJP’s fact-based allegations, which included charges of 18 “black deeds” committed by the government in the past two years.

The state BJP had submitted a memorandum to Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla, exposing alleged scams and misdeeds of the Congress government. In the memorandum, which spanned 106 pages, the BJP accused the government of establishing a "mafia raj" and taking anti-people decisions.

Thakur further alleged that the Congress government spent Rs 25 crore on the celebration while unemployed youth were on the streets seeking jobs, development had come to a standstill and public welfare schemes started by the previous BJP government were discontinued.

He also accused the Congress of failing to fulfill its poll guarantees.

He questioned, "Is it not true that the Congress government has issued a notification to abolish 1.5 lakh vacant jobs that have been unfilled for the past two years?" Thakur added that 10,000 outsourced employees had been terminated.

Additionally, he raised concerns about the Congress government allegedly pressuring media outlets to "publish content of its choice." "Is it not true that, after threatening officials, the Congress government is now pressuring the media to publish content of their choice? We are in a democratic setup, where the voice of the media cannot be suppressed," he said. PTI BPL ARD ARD