Himachal Pradesh BJP President Satpal Satti accused Congress led UPA government for denying legal and social rights to Himachal.
In a statement Satpal Satti joined issue with Rahul Gandhi who had compared the present election to Mahabharata war. He said for the last 48 years the Congress had all along denied Himachal its legal right to share in the Bhakhra-Beas projects as provided in the States Reorganisation Act 1966. Ultimately, Himachal had to knock the door of the Supreme Court. In the Supreme Court the Kaurava government of Dr. Manmohan Singh filed an affidavit opposing Himachal’s claim. It was the Supreme Court which ultimately gave justice and awarded a compensation of Rs. 4200 crores with interest. Yet the Kauravas in Delhi have still not honoured the verdict of the highest court of the country and the Kaurava representative government of Shri Virbhadra Singh has failed to get justice for Himachal from its own Congress government at the Centre.
Satti chided the ignorance of Rahul Gandhi to distinguish between an individual venture and an association. He said the land was allotted by the Congress governments of Haryana and then Rajashthan to Robert Vadra by violating or manipulating the law. That is why with an investment of just one lakh he came to be a multimillionaire with 300 crores in three years. In the case of HPCA the land was transferred to a cricket association which is an elected body and not a family fiefdom. HPCA is not a family trust like the Rajeev Gandhi, Indira Gandhi Memorial Funds and Foundations.
Satti also reminded about the land purchased by Rahul’s sister at Chhrabra in Shimla district. Satti said for the last over 40 years not an inch of new broad gauge or narrow gauge railway line has been sanctioned. The construction on Nangal-Talwara railway line is progressing at a snail’s pace.
The Dhumal government, Satti said, had proposed Bhanupali-Bilaspur-Mandi-Manali-Leh railway line which is of great strategic importance due to the ill designs of China. It was also expected to give a revolutionary boost to tourism in the region. But the Congress government ignored even the threat from China and gave a deaf year to it. Same is true about Pathsnkot-Jogindernagar line extension to Mandi-Kullu.
Satti said the quota of recruitment of Himachali youth in the army has been slashed with the result that the youth willing to serve the nation are being denied this opportunity.
He claimed that the quota of ration given to the State’s population under PDS has been reduced to almost half. The price has been increased and its quality has been decreased, he further alleged.
Satti said the duration of the industrial package granted by the NDA government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee was cut short by the Congress-led UPA government immediately on coming into power in 2004. While this has been extended in States like J&K, Manmohan government has done a great injustice to Himachal. As a result an exodus of industry from the State has set in and Himachalis employed in these industrial units have either been rendered jobless or are under threat.
BJP President said that Congress government at the Centre has failed to protect the interests of apple growers in the State. Apple from abroad is being imported at a concessional rate with the result that the home grown apple cannot get remunerative prices and the grower is undergoing huge losses.
Satpal Satti called upon the people of Himachal Pradesh to support BJP in the parliamentary election.
