BJP holds protest march against politics of vendetta by Congress

BJP holds protest march against politics of vendetta by Congress-led Himachal Government

Ex-CM Jai Ram Thakur claims administration filing false cases against BJP leaders

The BJP on Wednesday organised a massive protest demonstration against the Congress government's politics of vendetta, corruption, anti-people decisions, deteriorating law and order and misuse of democratic institutions in Shimla. The protest was led by Leader of Opposition in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly and former CM Jai Ram Thakur, along with HP BJP president Rajeev Bindal and party MLAs. A large number of BJP workers, public representatives, office-bearers and supporters from across the state participated in the protest.

BJP workers marched peacefully to the CM's residence, raising slogans against the Congress-led government. The workers sat on dharna outside the CM's residence, seeking dismissal of the state government. Addressing the gathering, LoP Thakur claimed the Congress government had stopped development works and welfare schemes immediately after coming to power. “Even after almost four years in office, the Congress regime continues to follow the politics of closure and disruption,” he said.

He added, "Although the BJP will raise all these issues during the monsoon session of the Assembly, beginning on August 21, the party has decided to begin its public movement on the streets before that." He warned that if the government failed to change its style of functioning, BJP's mass agitation would intensify and the people would eventually remove the Congress government from power.

Thakur accused the Congress of misusing the administration to register false criminal cases against BJP leaders and workers after its electoral defeat. He alleged that officers were being pressured to file FIRs even in cases where they admitted that no legal case existed, solely to target political opponents. He claimed that false cases had been registered against Rajeev Bindal, MLAs Sudhir Sharma and Ashish Sharma, former MLA’s Hoshiar Singh, Rajendra Rana and several other BJP leaders and their family members. He cautioned officials against acting under political pressure to harass the Opposition as accountability would be fixed when BJP returned to power.

Bindal announced that BJP would organise protests every month in every Assembly constituency and every mandal against the anti-people policies of the Congress government. “The Congress had promised Rs 1,500 per month to women, but even after four years, lakhs of women continue to wait. Promises of permanent government jobs and restoration of the old pension system remained unfulfilled, while schools, colleges, hospitals and public institutions had been shut down,” he said.

Bindal alleged that employees, pensioners, outsourced workers, daily wagers, farmers, women, youth and senior citizens had all been neglected by the state government. "This government is the government of closures, mafia, corruption, nepotism and anti-women, anti-farmer and anti-youth policies," he said, adding that BJP workers would reach every village and household to expose its failures.