Barbs fly as campaigning reaches fever pitch in Shimla
Voting will be held on May 2 and the result will be declared on May 4
SHIMLA : With just two days left for Shimla Municipal Corporation Elections, allegations and counter-allegations are flying thick and fast, with the top leaders of the ruling Congress and opposition BJP engaged in a verbal duel.
The Congress is looking to make a comeback in the civic body of the capital town after a gap of 10 years, while the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to retain the municipality it won for the first time in 2017.
Leader of the opposition and former chief minister Jairam Thakur on Saturday alleged that there was a growing dissatisfaction among the public towards the state government.
In addition to this, there is also unrest within the ruling Congress Party, which can erupt at any time, Jairam said while addressing a press conference.
Thakur alleged that the Congress-led state government, which repeatedly lamented about the debt burden on the state, has already taken a loan of ₹6,000 crore in its four-month tenure.
“The government will exhaust the limit of raising loans this time,” he said.
He also took a dig at the Congress
party, stating that the government was now in a fix over the 10 guarantees it had promised during the assembly elections and that is why, in the municipal elections, the Congress has refrained from making such promises.
He also expressed surprise that the photos of former chief minister late Virbhadra Singh and deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri were missing from the election campaign for the municipal corporation.
Thakur said that the 5-year rule of the BJP in the Shimla Municipal Corporation was better than the 25 years of Congress. He said that the Central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given the status of smart city to Shimla, due to which the city has been rejuvenated.
“Countless works have been done, including a rope-way project, lift restoration of the ridge, widening of roads,
improving the electricity-water system and construction of the park,” he said.
Thakur said that the government’s decision to release the dearness allowance for employees and permission to increase the height of the attic floor was a violation of the code of conduct.
He said that the Congress government was making such announcements for electoral gains. He alleged that the chief minister was directly threatening the voters that the development work would come to a standstill if the Congress councillors are not elected.
Meanwhile, responding to Thakur, industries minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said that the Leader of Opposition was deliberately raking up the issues of employees on baseless facts.
He said that the Congress government had restored the Old Pension Scheme and is also
seeking ₹8,000 crore of NPS funds pending with the Central government.
He warned the BJP leaders about the rhetoric by the BJP leaders about changing the government after the municipal elections in the state, saying that the Congress would complete its five-year term.
“The BJP may try as hard as it wants to change the government in the state, but that won’t happen,” he said.
Chauhan said that the Congress government has fulfilled three of its 10 assembly poll guarantees, including the OPS and ₹1,500 monthly allowance to the 2.31 lakh women.
He said Rajiv Gandhi Boarding Schools were being set up in every constituency. Questioning Jairam Thakur on the BJP manifesto, he asked why the BJP did not provide 40,000 litres of free water in Shimla when it ruled the Municipal Corporation.
“Why didn’t the BJP reduce
the garbage bills? The BJP is making these promises only after it lost the assembly elections,” said the minister while questioning the BJP for not conducting the SMC elections on time.
He said that BJP does not have a leader in the state. In the Shimla Municipal Corporation election campaign, Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur and Union Minister Anurag Thakur were going door-to-door, but there is no photo of them in the election campaign posters.
“There is only PM Modi’s photo, and the BJP is seeking votes in his name,” he alleged.
Alleging misappropriation of funds in the smart city project, Chauhan said that needs a thorough probe.
Replying to a question, the minister said there was only a proposal for temporary recruitment in the Education Department, and it has not been approved.