Cong playing with people's sentiments by celebrating 3 years in office in Mandi: Jai Ram Thakur

Shimla, Dec 11 (PTI) Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday accused the Congress government of “rubbing salt on the wounds” of disaster-hit families by celebrating three years in office in Mandi district.

Addressing mediapersons in Sundernagar (Mandi), he said holding such an event amid widespread devastation caused by recent natural calamities was “playing with the sentiments of the people”.

The government should have focused on ground realities instead of celebrating, he added.

Alleging that the Congress government had “failed on all fronts” with “zero achievements” in three years, Thakur said it had also failed to provide adequate relief to affected families. There is devastation all around, people have suffered losses, and the government is busy celebrating, he said.

He said that the absence of senior Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi from the programme, along with the family of six-time chief minister late Virbhadra Singh family is an indication of “infighting within the Congress”.

Citing the absence of former Congress president Pratibha Singh and Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Vikramaditya Singh from the event, he remarked that perhaps the Congress no longer feels the need for the Virbhadra family, or they were wise enough to distance themselves from this humiliating situation.

Thakur advised that instead of celebrating, the government should prioritise relief and rehabilitation and added that during its three-year tenure, the Congress has been limited to only political events and announcements.

In a statement issued here, the BJP state media in-charge and MLA Randhir Sharma termed the event “an open exhibition of three years of failed governance, betrayal and mismanagement”.

He said the speeches made from the stage by Congress leaders clearly expose that the government is collapsing from within, riddled with internal conflict, while the people continue to suffer under heavy burdens.

"Having no development to show after three years, the Congress government is now misusing power, intimidating officers, employees and the public," Sharma said, adding that Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Aghinotri has threatened the officials from the stage.

Sharma questioned whether the Congress is celebrating false guarantees, shutdown of public welfare schemes, and bringing development to a standstill.

He claimed that genuine Congress workers were barely seen at the rally, alleging that most attendees were government employees or beneficiaries brought through official machinery. The MLA further alleged that food and arrangements for the rally were financed through disaster relief funds, “which is a double betrayal to the people”.

In another statement issued by BJP leader and former speaker of Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Vipin Parmar, said the most poignant scene at the rally was when unemployed nurses held placards describing their bleak future, while the Congress government tried to drown out their pain with the noise of drums and trumpets.

"Nurses were crying for justice, and the government was celebrating. This is the anti-people and insensitive attitude of the Congress government," he added. PTI BPL OZ OZ