Centre did help, gave Rs 1,600 cr after rain disaster, says BJP MLA

Mandi, May 26

BJP MLA Anil Sharma has accused senior Congress leader Kaul Singh Thakur of “deceitful politics”. Addressing the media here today, Sharma, who represents Mandi Sadar, said Thakur had “a tendency to twist facts and confuse the public, which led to his defeat in the Assembly elections in 2022”.

Sharma said despite Thakur’s accusations of insufficient aid from the Centre to the state government, data available online revealed substantial assistance to Himachal Pradesh during times of disaster, amounting to approximately Rs 1,600 crore. He detailed specific allocations, including funds released by various Union Ministers for road maintenance and bridge construction.

Further, Sharma condemned what he described “misappropriation of disaster relief funds”, pointing to instances where individuals unrelated to the disaster received financial aid. He warned of potential investigation into such practices if the NDA government was re-elected, suggesting a lack of accountability in the distribution of relief funds.

Sharma also criticised the state government’s inability to get its due share of the BBMB from the Punjab Government despite court orders. He highlighted stalled infrastructure projects in Mandi. He accused the Congress candidate from the Mandi parliamentary seat, PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh, of instigating rebellion within the Congress party and questioned his vision for the region.

Sharma alleged that Vikramaditya and his mother, sitting Congress MP from Mandi Pratibha Singh, had provoked the six Congress MLAs to rebel against the state government and later these six Congress MLAs were finally disqualified by the Assembly Speaker from the Vidhan Sabha.

In response to Kaul Singh Thakur’s allegations, Sharma defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asserting that the state government’s economic package of Rs 4,500 crore was made possible only through the Central assistance. He further challenged Kaul Singh to substantiate his claims and proposed the scrutiny of relief fund distribution.