Cong government in Himachal without credibility, says Jaitley

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday slammed the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh, saying it was without credibility.

"It was a government without credibility and remained under a cloud," Jaitley, who was here to release his BJP party's vision document for the state that will go to the polls on November 9.

Without naming Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, he said it was the government to protect their near and dear ones. "If the government is working to protect their self survival, it's not possible to fulfill its promises."

Indirectly slamming the chief minister who remained at the helm despite framing of corruption charges against him and his family, Jaitley said: "For five years it was a fight for self struggle.

Jaitley, who was accompanied by Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda, who belongs to the state, and former chief ministers Prem Kumar Dhumal and Shanta Kumar, said: "We are going to contest the elections with an aim to reestablish the credibility of the government."

Education, healthcare, transportation and employment are among the main focus areas in the vision document, he said the party, if comes to power in the state, would also focus on law and order as "there is a rise in cases".

Clarifying on the GST Council's decision that businesses in the hill states with annual turnover below Rs 10 lakh would be out of the GST net, the finance minister said the hill states, including Himachal Pradesh, had asked for this limit. The threshold for the exemption in the rest of India is Rs 20 lakh per annum.