Taking a dig at the BJP after its defeat in the Shimla municipal corporation polls, the Congress on Friday said that the people have rejected the saffron party which instead of local issues sought votes on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name.
“The BJP leaders tried to turn the election into Modi versus Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and the people of Shimla rejected them,” said industries minister Harshwardhan Chauhan and education minister Rohit Thakur in a joint press conference held in Shimla.
“We are thankful to the people of Shimla and Himachal Pradesh, who voted for the Congress,” Chauhan said, adding that it was the third state win for the Congress after the by-elections and general assembly polls.
This is also the first time that any party has won 24 out of 34 seats in the Shimla civic body, he said.
The industries minister also blamed the BJP for trying to “destabilise the Congress government” in the state and said that the saffron party’s “nefarious designs” would not be successful in Himachal. “When the Congress assumed power, we heard about Operation Lotus, but now they have lost the MC elections too. They blamed us for enrolling voters from outside Shimla. But they should rather tell what happened in assembly elections. They don’t work and only seek votes in Modi’s name,” the minister said.
Reacting to Jai Ram Thakur’s statement that the state government tried to influence the voters, Chauhan said it was the BJP which attempted to win the election by using “money power”.
{{/usCountry}}Reacting to Jai Ram Thakur’s statement that the state government tried to influence the voters, Chauhan said it was the BJP which attempted to win the election by using “money power”.
{{/usCountry}}He also refuted the claims that the Congress government had enrolled voters from the outside in the Shimla MC electoral rolls to win the elections.