Panchyat polls: Jai Ram targets Congress government in Himachal over ‘false promises’

Health Minister Dr (Col) Dhani Ram Shandil and Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh, in a press statement, refuted the remarks made by Jai Ram Thakur and said that the present state government has fulfilled all the guarantees promised to the people.

Former chief minister and leader of the opposition, Jai Ram Thakur, criticised the Congress in the state, alleging that the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government has plunged the state into a severe financial emergency.

Former chief minister and leader of the opposition, Jai Ram Thakur.

Campaigning for the upcoming panchayat elections scheduled to be held in the state in three phases beginning May 26, Jai Ram said, “The central government has been consistently allocating adequate budgetary resources to the state without any political bias; however, the state government is completely reluctant to utilise these funds for actual implementation on the ground.”

“This government had ascended to power through trickery, relying solely on false guarantees; consequently, the public is no longer prepared to place even an iota of faith in any of their hollow assurances,” Jai Ram said during the election campaign in favour of the BJP-backed candidate in his home constituency of Seraj.

Health Minister Dr (Col) Dhani Ram Shandil and Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh, in a press statement, refuted the remark of Jai Ram and said that the present state government has fulfilled all the guarantees promised to the people.

“In its very first cabinet meeting, the Congress government restored the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for 1.36 lakh employees, fulfilling its first guarantee. Under the second guarantee, eligible women are being provided ₹1,500 per month in a phased manner under the Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojana,” the ministers said in an official statement.

Assistant returning officer suspended

District election officer (panchayat) and Shimla deputy commissioner, Anupam Kashyap, suspended assistant returning officer Rajneesh Chauhan with immediate effect on charges of serious negligence in the panchayat election process.

According to the information, the action was taken after it was found that rules were disregarded during the allotment of election symbols in the gram panchayat Dalgaon, development block Rohru.

Chauhan, who serves as a group instructor at the government industrial training institute (ITI), Samarkot in Rohru, was appointed as the assistant returning officer for the gram panchayat, Dalgaon. As part of the election process, the concerned officer was responsible for allotting election symbols to contesting candidates on May 15, following the final deadline for the withdrawal of nominations.

During the inquiry, it was found that the allotment of election symbols was not conducted in accordance with the guidelines issued by the state election commission.

The orders stated that the allotment of election symbols was required to be based on the Hindi alphabetical order and the serial numbers notified by the state election commission. “This procedure is prescribed under Rule 42 of the Himachal Pradesh Panchayati Raj (Election) Rules, 1994. The ARO failed to adhere to the prescribed rules and procedures regarding the allotment of election symbols, and the distribution of symbols was carried out contrary to the established provisions,” the order said.

Kashyap said Chauhan has been suspended, and the block development officer’s office in Rohru has been designated as Rajneesh Chauhan’s headquarters during the period of his suspension.