BJP protests outside Assembly against ‘mafia raj’, demands handing over Negi death case to CBI

The BJP today staged a protest outside the Vidhan Sabha to “save Himachal from mafia raj, rampant corruption and deteriorating law and order situation under the Congress rule in the state”.

Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, while addressing the gathering, said that Himachal was facing a crisis on every front be it development, mafia raj, corruption and deteriorating law and order. “Never before we had heard of contract killings in the Dev Bhoomi Himachal. Shooters had attacked a former Congress legislator on the day of Holi. There is a spurt in crime all over the state,’ he alleged.

Thakur hit out at the Congress government for accusing the BJP of politicising the demise of HPPCL Chief Engineer Vimal Negi. “If the state government has nothing to fear and the bereaved family wants a CBI inquiry, what is preventing you from handing over the case to the Central agency,” he said. He alleged that there were irregularities in the setting up of power projects in Una and other places in the state.

He said that the coffers of the government were empty and development had come to a standstill, as only up to Rs 10,000 was being released from the treasury. “The Congress government has failed to fulfil the guarantees given to people, including the creation of one lakh jobs every year and providing 300 units of free power,” he added.

Thakur said that development that was taking place in the state was with the help of the funds being provided by the Central Government under various schemes.

BJP state in-charge Srikant Sharma said that people were up in arms against the Congress government. He added that this rally would boost the morale of honest officers, who were feeling demoralised following the demise of Chief Engineer Vimal Negi. “What was the fault of Vimal Negi? If there is some morality left, this government should hand over the Vimal Negi death case to the CBI,” he said.

Sharma alleged, “Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and ministers are all indulging in corruption. The BJP, on being voted to power, will launch a crackdown against all mafias flourishing under the Congress rule.” He urged people to make Himachal Congress ‘mukt’ and vote the BJP to power.

State BJP president Rajeev Bindal said development had come to a standstill and the state was under debt of over Rs 1 lakh crore. “Under Vyavastha Parivartan only the mafia raj is flourishing and Himachal is turning into a ‘Chitta’ state,” he added.

Bindal said, “If a former MLA is not safe, one can imagine the plight of common people. Under the Congress rule, liquor, mining, ‘supari’, drug, transfer, scrap and forest mafias are flourishing. Rather than providing jobs to one lakh youth every year, the government has discontinued the services of many employees, withdrawn subsidy on power and water and not fulfilled guarantees given by the Congress before the last elections.”