Himachal: Former BJP MLA accuses Cong govt of using state's resources to snoop on opposition

Hamirpur (HP), Dec 3 (PTI) The Congress government of Himachal Pradesh is using the state's resources to snoop on the opposition leaders, and is filing "false cases" against them to suppress the democratic system, former MLA and BJP leader Rajendra Rana said on Wednesday.

Talking to the media persons here, Rana said that the state's tax and other resources were being spent on "friends of happiness" and their likes, instead of in the interest of the state. He was indirectly referring to the friends of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.

"The Congress first made big promises and gave ten guarantees to the people on the eve of Assembly polls in 2022, and as soon as the government was formed, it started creating confusion under the guise of emptying the treasury," he said.

Recalling that Sukhu had earlier said that they had come to power by defeating the ideology of Hindutva in a 97 per cent Hindu majority state, he pointed out that the attitude of the chief minister is negative towards Sanatan Dharma and its followers and cited a recent example of Sukhu advising children not to greet by saying "Radhe-Radhe".

He further alleged that the Sukhu government has taken "unprecedented" debts, which will burden future generations with lakhs of rupees per person, but despite this, the people are deprived of development and better facilities.

Rana said that the most worrying thing is that an honest officer, Vimal Negi, who wanted to expose alleged corruption in the state government, was forced to commit suicide under "pressure from the government".

He claimed that this is not just a personal tragedy, but a picture of the system's abuse of power and further alleged that the law and order situation in the state is deteriorating day by day, with an increase in incidents of gun firing.

He also accused the government of backing the mafia and sheltering illegal elements.

Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited chief engineer Vimal Negi had gone missing on March 10, and his body was found on March 18 in Bilaspur district. His wife Kiran Negi alleged that his seniors had harassed him and demanded a CBI probe, which is underway. PTI COR BPL APL