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Smriti Irani: Double-engine govt working wonders for Himachal
Congress hits back with a protest against price rise, party workers wave black flags at Union minister in Rampur
Spiralling prices of petroleum products, particularly cooking gas, have led to a slanging match between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh.
Opposition Congress vehemently protested against the Union minister of women and child development Smriti Irani who addressed a Mahila Sammelan “ Nari ko Naman” Programme in Rampur Bushar, a stronghold of former chief minister late Virbhadra Singh’s family.
Congress workers led by district Congress president Atul Sharma stood on the roads in Rampur waving black flags and empty gas cylinders while the party made a scathing attack on the Irani.
The AICC secretary Alka Lamba, in charge of media affairs in Himachal, had described Irani as “Cylinder Cinderella” on Friday.
The Congress said Irani’s claims made during previous elections that the benefits of Ujawala Yojana have been shared with 1.3 lakh rural women of the state were false.
Irani said it was the birthday of the nation’s first Jan Sevak and the path setter of new India, Prime minister Narendra Modi.
“The double engine government in Himachal has given new horizons to the story of the development of Himachal and the Modi government in the centre and the Jairam government in Himachal have done a great job together to give a boost to the overall progress of the state,” Irani said.
After 30 years, Rampur got a Sanskrit college, this long pending demand was completed by the BJP government in this tenure but unfortunately, Congress had only given a dream for the same for the past 30 years. Showing dreams was an old tradition of Congress, Irani said, adding that it was chief minister Jai Ram Thakur’s government that also gave a sub-tehsil to Rampur.
Irani took a jibe at the Congress party on yesterday’s incident wherein the party’s vice-president Ram Lal Thakur, a senior Congress leader hailing from Bilaspur, had resigned from his post.
“Thakur has also admitted that the Congress is directionless and leaderless. There are too many candidates for the chief minister in Himachal. Well from this incident the condition of Congress is quite clear,” Irani said.
She said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a new vision to national politics where he has taken care of and given utmost respect to the women of the nation.
“PM has given 11 crore toilets to the nation, and Himachal gave toilets to more than 2 lakh people. Congress never thought about this demand. Prime Minister gave us the Swach Bharat movement which changed the face of our state and nation,” she said.
Irani counted the achievements of both the state as well as the central government. “We gave AIIMS in Bilaspur, PGI centre in Una, medical device park in Nalagarh and bulk drug park in Una. Congress should see what the double-engine government has given to Himachal,” she said.
Reacting to Irani’s event, the spokesperson of the All India Congress Committee, Alka Lamba said she again failed to answer the questions of women and people of the state on the issues of inflation, LPG prices and other farming issues.
“She (Smriti Irani) failed to answer the women of Himachal Pradesh who are demanding to refill the LPG cylinders under Ujawala Yojana. The people of the state and country are facing the serious issue of inflation. Smriti Ji would have answered those issues of the Rampur region where farmers are growing apples and due to bad policies of the state and union government, the farmers are being looted by the friends of Narendra Modi. The apple growers there are in distress and she did not have any answer to the key issues. Instead of answering on the issues of the people, she focused her speech on personal issues,” Lamba said.
