CM on weeklong Kangra tour from today

Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 22

Amid accusation of Kangra not getting due representation in the Congress government, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu will embark on a weeklong tour of the largest and politically significant district from tomorrow.

Will lay stone of various projects

• During his weeklong visit, Sukhu will attend various functions, lay foundation stone of various projects in Kangra, which has 15 Assembly segments
• Sukhu, who has been in office a little over five months, has conceived several projects for Kangra district
• In his Budget, he declared that Kangra will the tourism capital of the state and announced the setting up of a zoo at a cost of Rs 600 crore

Even though other chief ministers like Virbhadra Singh, PK Dhumal and Jai Ram Thakur used to undertake winter sojourn of Kangra district in December-January, Sukhu has chosen to visit many parts of the district now. It was Virbhadra Singh who started the practice of winter sojourn in the mid-nineties in a bid to bridge the regional gap with people of Kangra and forge emotional integration.

Although Dharamsala is officially not the winter capital of the state the district headquarter of the Kangra houses the Vidhan Sabha, where winter session of the Assembly is held every year in December. As such Dharamsala enjoys the status of the second capital of the state, highlighting its importance in the state politics.

Sukhu will leave for Dharamsala tomorrow and will attend various functions, lay foundation stone of various projects in Kangra, which has 15 Assembly segments. Even though he will visit Delhi on May 27 to attend the 8th meeting of Governing Council of NITI Ayog to

be held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister

Narendra Modi he will be spending about a week in Kangra. He will visit Delhi again to attend official meetings on May 29 and 30.

Even as the CM is under pressure to accord greater importance to Kangra where Congress won 10 of the 15 Assembly seats, the move is being viewed as an attempt to dispel such a notion. Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar has been given representation in the Cabinet while Ashish Butail was made chief parliamentary secretary.

Though both Virbhadra and Dhumal adhered to the practice of winter sojourn, during the previous BJP regime headed by Jai Ram Thakur the holding the winter sojourn was not considered so sacrosanct. Jai Ram was often accused of ignoring Kangra at the cost of Mandi, his home turf.

Sukhu, who has been in office a little over five months, has conceived several projects for district Kangra. In his budget, he declared that Kangra will be the tourism capital of the state and announced the setting up of a zoo at a cost of Rs 600 crore. A proposal has been mooted to run yachts, shikaras and hot air balloons in Pong Dam after obtaining permission from the Bhakra Beas Management Board.

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