Chief Minister playing hide and seek in the disaster: Jai Ram Thakur
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Chief Minister, despite being in the state, failed to hear the people’s pain.
Mandi/Gohar: The entire state of Himachal Pradesh is going through a terrible disaster. This is the time to listen to the people’s sorrows and improve the system, but the Chief Minister, abandoning all other work, is playing hide and seek in the disaster. On one hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, to assess the disaster in the state and meet with the affected people and listen to their pain, while on the other hand, the public witnessed the insensitive face of Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, for whom family comes first and the people second.
Former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, who attended the closing ceremony of the district-level Khayod Fair in Gohar, Nachan, sarcastically remarked in a public meeting that this government is temporary. Instead of working, the emphasis is on stopping things. Instead of giving something, it is bent on taking everything away. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has gifted the country with the festive season by simplifying the GST rate, eliminating the 12% and 28% slabs and reducing it to only 5% and 12%, the state government is harassing the public by imposing even higher taxes. Recently, the price of cement was increased by ₹7 per bag overnight, when it should have provided relief to people building houses during the disaster. You must have seen how this government has even decided to withdraw the ₹25 increase for Panchayat Chowkidars.
Jai Ram Thakur said that the Prime Minister has sent ₹5,500 crore in direct aid to the state government since the 2023 disaster, and now an additional ₹1,500 crore has been announced as an immediate relief package for those affected, but the Chief Minister failed to express even a single word of gratitude. His intention is to have the central government transfer all this money to the state government to make it easier for them to run the government, but we will not allow this to happen. This money should only go to those affected who lost their loved ones, whose homes were destroyed, whose farms were devastated, and should be spent on schemes damaged in this terrible disaster. It’s simply not possible for this money to be distributed according to the state government’s wishes.
The Leader of the Opposition said that the Chief Minister is only concerned about saving his position. He has no concern for the suffering of the people. Winter has arrived, but thousands of people who were rendered homeless between 2023 and this monsoon are still forced to spend their nights in tents. The Chief Minister has yet to even reach out to the Assembly constituencies of Banjar, Kullu, Ani, and Darrang to listen to the people’s plight, even though nearly 2,500 houses in these areas have been completely destroyed by the rains since September 1st, leaving thousands of people spending their nights in the open. He said that given the current situation, he can definitely say that the next government will be formed by the BJP, and the Congress will be wiped out. These people believe in filling their own and their friends’ coffers, not in working. He claimed that this government hasn’t even cleared the debris from the roads in 2023, so this government will continue to play hide and seek to pass the time even during this disaster. Only if our government is formed in the future will all these arrangements be put in place, and whatever you wish will happen.
Best Wishes for the Khayod Fair
Former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition, Jai Ram Thakur, said that our fairs are not just a means of entertainment, but are a symbol of the state’s rich culture, traditions, and folk life. I pray to the gods and goddesses to give us the strength to overcome this tragedy. I extend my heartfelt best wishes and congratulations to the fair committee and all its partners for making this grand Khayod Fair a success.
Such events play a vital role in preserving our cultural heritage and giving a new direction to local development, and they become even more effective with public participation and the active involvement of youth. I assure that if our government is formed, Nachan will receive its full respect and the fair will be even more grand. Local MLA Vinod Kumar and BJP State Spokesperson Ajay Rana were also present on this occasion. Local MLA Vinod Kumar gave him a grand welcome and praised his past gifts to Nachan as unprecedented. He said that the outstanding work done by Jai Ram Thakur during the disaster has been unmatched by anyone else.
