Eyeing to retain the Shimla municipal corporation (SMC) at any cost, the Opposition Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) in Himachal Pradesh is attempting to capitalise on the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Senior BJP leader and former speaker of the Himachal Pradesh assembly Vipin Singh Parmar, who had also been the front-runner for the position of the state party chief, said the party should be aiming to perform well in Kangra, where the Congress won 10 of the 15 assembly segments.
“Picking up the new party chief is the party’s decision. No individual is above the party in the BJP. In near future, the party will give some responsibilities to workers and appoint some new office bearers,” he said.
Parmar held a press conference to highlight the development work done by the BJP government in Shimla during the past five years, under the leadership of Jai Ram Thakur and PM Modi.
He criticised the Congress, which ruled the Shimla MC for over 25 years, for failing to deliver on their promises. He claimed that the Congress had made several guarantees as poll promises during the assembly elections, but did not fulfil any of them. He also stated that the Congress was now making false promises to people of Shimla city.
Parmar further said the population of Shimla, which was only 15,000 when it was established as the summer capital by the British, has now grown to nearly 2.5 lahk. Despite this growth, Parmar claimed that the Congress did little to improve the city during their long tenure in power. He then highlighted several development projects initiated by the BJP government in the city.
{{/usCountry}}Parmar further said the population of Shimla, which was only 15,000 when it was established as the summer capital by the British, has now grown to nearly 2.5 lahk. Despite this growth, Parmar claimed that the Congress did little to improve the city during their long tenure in power. He then highlighted several development projects initiated by the BJP government in the city.
{{/usCountry}}Listing installation of escalators, road widening and construction of tunnels, which were part of the Shimla smart city project, Parmar attributed the success of these projects to the leadership of PM Modi and ex-CM Thakur.
He said projects such as skyway and ropeways, which the Congress was talking about, have already been cleared by the Union government and even a budget of ₹ 560 crore had been sanctioned.
He said the BJP had also started a big water supply scheme for drinking water supply to Shimla town. “The ₹1813 crore water scheme has also been given by PM Modi and the then CM Jai Ram Thakur,” he said.