People have made up their mind to teach BJP a lesson: Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu

10/05/2024

Himachal chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress govt came to power in Dec 2022. It was mostly smooth sailing for the Sukhu govt until the Rajya Sabha election on Feb 27. In a stunning setback, six Congress MLAs cross-voted for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate and the ruling party lost the election despite having 40 MLAs in the 68-member assembly. BJP with 25 legislators won with support of six Congress MLAs along with three independents. Despite the odds, Sukhu managed to survive the crisis and silence his detractors party after disqualifying six dissident MLAs.

Sukhu describes the Lok Sabha elections and the byelections to six assembly seats as a battle between honesty and dishonesty; and ‘satya’ (truth) and ‘asatya’ (untruth). In an interview with TOI’s Anand Bodh, Sukhu said his govt came to power to change the destiny of the state. Excerpts:

How confident are you of winning four Lok Sabha and six assembly byelections of the state?

We will go to the public with the last 15 months’ performance of the Congress govt. We have already fulfilled many of the poll guarantees and promises, be it giving old pension schemes to the employees, taking care of orphan children or widows. Based on the last 15 months’ performance of the Congress govt, I am confident of winning all four Lok Sabha seats of Himachal Pradesh along with the byelections in six assembly seats. It is my govt’s unwavering commitment to ensure the welfare of the underprivileged sections of the society. Forty thousand new beneficiaries under the social security pension scheme would be added during the next financial year and an additional expenditure of Rs 70 crore would be spent on the same. At present, approximately Rs 1,260 crore has been allocated for the scheme which benefits 7,84,000 individuals, including the elderly, widows, single women, disabled and leprosy patients.

Has your govt been weakened following the revolt by six Congress MLAs and the cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha election by them?

My govt is strong and will complete the fiveyear term as per the wishes of people of Himachal Pradesh.

The BJP leaders are desperate for power and want to topple the democratically elected govt by adopting unfair means. The BJP lured the six Congress MLAs through unfair means for cross voting in the RS election. After cross voting, the six Congress MLAs remained absent from the House when the budget was being passed and this itself shows about some clandestine deal which they had with the BJP. The assembly speaker had disqualified them for defying the whip issued by the party. After this entire incident, my govt has emerged stronger while the BJP stands exposed. Those who had cross-voted in the RS election by backstabbing the party would be taught a lesson by the voters of their respective assembly constituencies.

The Congress has not been able to win even a single seat in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, how will you break the jinx this time?

In the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the situation was different but this time the BJP is facing a tough situation. Since coming to power, I have visited every assembly constituency of the state and have interacted with the people at the grass roots level to know about their problems and have tried to find solutions to their problems. We had promised Rs 1,500 to women but the BJP has opposed it. The BJP was opposed to the idea of the old pension scheme but we have given the same to employees. Our govt has taken tough action against every type of mafia in the state. I was handed empty coffers by the previous BJP regime and I am working with the sole objective of making Himachal Pradesh a self-reliant state by 2032. My govt is focussing on strengthening the rural economy. Due to the efforts of my government, the revenue of Himachal Pradesh has increased by Rs 2,200 crore. I am confident that the people of the state will vote for the Congress to realise my dream of self-reliant Himachal.

You have accused the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at Centre of not helping the state after last year’s disaster?

Last year, Himachal Pradesh was hit by the worst ever natural calamity but till date the state govt did not receive any special relief package from the Centre despite the unprecedented natural disaster. Whatever funds we have received under NDRF and SDRF was from the budgeted head for the state. The state has submitted Rs 9,900 crore post disaster loss estimates to the Centre. Our govt changed the Relief and Rehabilitation Rules that had been in place for years and released a Special Relief Package of Rs 4,500 crore from our own resources as a measure of relief to the disaster affected. My govt is capable of dealing with any situation. We demonstrated this capability during last year’s natural disaster. Beside praise done by the NITI Aayog, the relief work done by our govt has also been appreciated by the World Bank.

The BJP leaders are claiming that you have lost the majority in the assembly and your govt would fall after June 4?

The conspirators are out of the party now and Congress is united and rock solid. “Operation Lotus”

has failed in Himachal Pradesh and it has left BJP leaders red-faced. In the House of 62 MLAs currently, the Congress has strength of 34 MLAs and suppose even if BJP wins six assembly seats in the byelections, its number will only reach 31 which shows that Congress govt is safe and will complete its 5 years’ term. After the recent political turmoil following the RS election, there is widespread resentment among the people in the state as Himachal Pradesh is “Dev-Bhumi” as people of state do not like politics of horse trading and all this will go against the BJP in the elections. People have made up their mind to teach BJP a lesson this time.

What are the major poll issues for Congress in the Lok Sabha election and assembly byelections?

Financial mismanagement of previous BJP regime, corruption, attempt to topple democratically elected govt, BJP’s attempt to stop the Rs 1,500 monthly honorarium to women, BJP’s opposition to old pension scheme, all these are major poll issues for us. We will go to the people’s court with our report card for the last 15 months.

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