CM never ignored Virbhadra's Rampur: Nadda

Bhanu P Lohumi

Shimla, November 7

BJP national president JP Nadda has asked voters to ensure the victory of BJP candidates to strengthen Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur’s hands.

He was addressing rallies to seek votes for Kaul Negi, Chetan Bragta and Shashi Bala in Rampur, Jubbal-Kotkhai and Rohru today.

Addressing a rally after a roadshow at Rampur, the home town of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Nadda said despite the fact that Rampur never elected a BJP MLA, the Chief Minister never discriminated against Rampur and treated it on a par with Seraj, his own constituency.

Highlighting projects and welfare schemes launched by the Centre and state government, Nadda said Himachal derived the maximum benefits from the double-engine government due to special treatment meted out to the state by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Himachal had the advantage of getting full benefit from Central schemes and supplementary schemes launched by the state government.

Speaking at Jubbal–Kotkhai and Rohru, he said the health insurance cover of Rs 5-lakh under Ayushman Bharat and Himcare to 5.17 lakh people helped patients to get free treatment. The distribution of LPG cylinders saved women from smoke pollution while taps in every household saved women from trekking long distance to get potable water. About 1.3 lakh toilets had been constructed in the state, besides 28,500 houses for the poor.

Emphasising that the BJP government not only fulfilled its promises, but also went beyond these and sanctioning of AIIMS and IIM, security clearance for the Manali-Leh railway line, a bulk drug park and Rs 11,000 crore hydropower projects were a few examples.

Claiming that the economy was on a recovery path, the BJP president said while other countries were yet to come out of recession, India had surpassed Britain.

He also listed the assurances made under the “Stree Shakti Sankalp” released in the BJP sankalp patra, which promised 33 per cent reservation to women in government jobs and educational institutions, establish a corpus of Rs 500 crore to give interest-free loans to women entrepreneurs for homestays and an increase in financial support for marriage of girls belonging to BPL families from Rs 31,000 to Rs 51,000 under the Mukhyamantri Shagun Yojana.

He said the BJP had promised to give three LPG cylinders to poor women under Devi Annapoorna Yojana and enroll all women over 30 years from poor families in Atal Pension Yojana, besides providing bicycle for schoolgirls and scooty to girls pursuing higher education. The party would construct two hostels in every district for them and give Rs 25,00 per month to 50,000 meritorious girl students.