As a part of the statewide campaign against the “Badla-Badli Virodh Saptah”, Himachal Pradesh BJP hold protest at Hamirpur, where hundreds of party workers braved bad weather and took part in a rally at Gandhi Chowk.
Senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, former Education Minister ID Dhiman, district BJP president Vijay Agnihotri other party district leader and office bearer participated in the protest rally.
While addressing the rally, Dhumal asked Congress led state government to stop “victimisation of BJP leaders”. He said that Virbhadra Singh led Govt has failed on all front during its seven months rule and was busy haunting BJP leaders to settle their political score. He said that prices of essential items were increasing rapidly and in spite of checking it, Congress led Govt was busy targeting BJP leaders.
Dhumal accused chief minister Virbhadra Singh and other Congress leaders for falsely implicating his MP son Anurag Thakur on Pavilion Hotel issue. He defended the decision of Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) of constructing the luxury hotel at Dharamsala. He claimed that it’s a public property and being run on a no- profit, no-loss basis to promote cricket in the state. He said that it was all done to promote cricket in state.
He targeted Virbhadra Singh and asked him to clarify what the Congress had done during its regime to promote cricket and other games in the state. He claimed that Anurag had brought the state on the world map of cricket. He said by constructing a hotel, HPCA had committed no crime and had taken the land on lease according to the government rules and bylaws.
Prem Kumar Dhumal accused Congress for conspiring against Anurag Thakur and said that Congress has intimidated with the growing popularity of Thakur on the national level. He, however, said people of the state knew who were their real friends and well-wishers and vote only for them in the next elections. Dhumal said that electorates of the state were with BJP and hoping to win all four Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Dhumal also criticised the state government for shifting the office of HIMUDA from Hamirpur, stopping work on the Dhola Sidh hydropower project and the cancellation of two tenders of over Rs 150 crore to provide drinking water for Hamirpur and irrigation scheme for the Nadaun area.
District BJP Chief Vijay Agnihotri said the Congress leaders were afraid of Narendra Modi at the Centre and Anurag in the state and that was the reason that both were under the target of the Congress. He asked the party workers to be united and expose the Congress in the public through holding personal meetings with them. Senior party leader and former Education Minister ID Dhiman also addressed the rally.
Later, BJP leaders submitted a memorandum to the Governor through the Hamirpur Deputy Commissioner. Through this memorandum, the BJP has urged the Governor to take steps ensuring the smooth and fair functioning of the state government and stopping victimisation of political opponents and irrational transfers of the government employees. It has also resented the stopping of various schemes named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and criticised cancellation of tenders by the IPH Department for Hamirpur and Nadaun water schemes, etc.
