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Bhupesh Baghel, Rajeev Shukla kick-start Congress’ HP poll campaign in Sujanpur
DHARAMSHALA: A day after suffering a jolt due to the surprise exit of senior leader Harsh Mahajan, the opposition Congress, on Thursday, held a show of strength at Sujanpur in Hamirpur district which also set in motion the party’s campaign for the upcoming polls
DHARAMSHALA: A day after suffering a jolt due to the surprise exit of senior leader Harsh Mahajan, the opposition Congress, on Thursday, held a show of strength at Sujanpur in Hamirpur district which also set in motion the party’s campaign for the upcoming polls.
The state Congress had earlier invited Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to address the rally but due to her busy schedule, Chhattishgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel replaced her as the chief guest.
Himachal Congress chief Pratibha Singh also skipped the rally, organised by the state working president and Sujanpur MLA Rajinder Singh Rana, due to prior engagements in New Delhi.
The hill-state is likely to go to polls in the early November. The Congress, which aims to return to power in the state, is busy battling its own infighting. Mired in the leadership crisis, Congress is marred by discontent and defections. Meanwhile, the Congress leaders came out all guns blazing criticising the state BJP government and Narendra Modi-led Central government during the rally.
Addressing the gathering, Baghel accused the BJP of doing exactly the opposite of what it had promised to the people of the country and the state. “In the name of demonetization, BJP government promised to bring back the black money but it turned out to be a decoy to snatch away the savings of the common people,” he said.
They had promised to double farmers’ income, Baghel said, but in fact, increased the input cost. “Now, they have imposed GST on almost everything making the lives of common masses miserable,” he said.
Baghel alleged they (BJP) pretend to worship the cow, and can plot riots in the name of the cow but don’t serve the bovine.
Economic crisis looming large: Shukla
Speaking on the occasion, AICC in charge of Himachal Rajeev Shukla said that BJP hasn’t fulfilled even a single promise it made before coming to power in 2014.
They had promised to bring down prices of petrol, diesel and LPG but the same was increased.
“Today, the Rupee has declined to a record low. India’s foreign exchange reserve is depleting by USD 80 billion every day and I must tell you that we are staring at a big economic crisis,” said Shukla.
Accusing the BJP of misleading the people, Shukla said their model of governance is doing a ₹5 job and propaganda of ₹50.
Himachal Pradesh Congress campaign committee head Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that Congress has taken a policy decision to restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for employees and 5 lakh jobs to the youth if voted to power.
He said to empower the women, Sukhu said, the party has decided to give a monthly allowance of ₹1,500 to all the women above the age of 18. He also flayed the BJP government over ever-increasing LPG prices and the Agnipath scheme, which Sukhu said, was a betrayal of the youth.
Agnihotri takes “Gareeb Shahenshah” jibe at CM
Addressing the rally, Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri said that Jai Ram Thakur has done only two things-- He flew in the sky in a helicopter and performed Natti on the ground.
“Chief Minister built 12 helipads alone in his constituency Seraj and can’t even walk two kilometres,” alleged Agnihotri.
He alleged that Jai Ram-led government alone took ₹45,000 Cr loans in five years.
