Cong showed disrespect to National Flag, says Himachal CM

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 4

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur today accused the Congress MLAs of showing disrespect to the National Flag while banging on the bonnet of the Governor’s car on the first day of the ongoing Budget Session. He said that the Congress MLAs should apologise to the Governor for their misbehaviour in the Vidhan Sabha on the opening day of the Budget session. He was speaking while participating in the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the Governor’s Address in the absence of the Congress MLAs in the Vidhan Sabha.

The Chief Minister said that the irresponsible behaviour of the Congress had shamed Himachal all over the country. “They must realise that it is not the culture and tradition of Himachal to behave in this fashion. People of the state have humility and sobriety,” he added. Thirteen BJP legislators and CPM MLA Rakesh Singha participated in the debate, which lasted three days.

Thakur said that the least the Congress could do was to apologise to Governor Bandaru Dattatreya for the bad beahviour of its MLAs after the Governor’s Address on February 26. “I am an eyewitness to the entire sequence of events on that unfortunate day when the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Leader pushed the Governor’s ADC. If the rules permit, the entire video footage of the unruly behaviour of the Congress MLAs must be shown in the Assembly as well as all over the state so that people could know the culture the Congress believes in,” he said.

Thakur added that the BJP believed in democracy and was open to healthy criticism but the Congress seemed to have crossed all limits of indecency. “Though it is already very late, the Congress can still repent its behaviour by apologising to the Governor,” he said.

He listed the steps initiated by his government in tackling Covid-19 and alleged that had the Congress been in power there would have been a total loot. “What can people expect from a party that did not hesitate from raising a false bill of Rs 12 crore with the Congress top leadership for having extended help to people during the pandemic while in reality nothing had been done on ground,” he alleged.

Thakur said that despite Covid, which has affected the whole world, his government ensured that the pace of development was not affected. “Irrespective of what people say, I inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of projects worth Rs 3,500 crore, both virtually and physically,” he claimed.

Thakur blamed the previous Congress government for the grim financial health of the state. “Though we have raised loans to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore this year, it is far less than what the Congress had done,” he said. He added that his government had to foot a bill of Rs 72 lakh of a rally at Mandi organised by the previous Congress government, which Rahul Gandhi had also attended. The Congress was yet to pay Rs 12 lakh to the Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation for the buses it hired for the elections and the Rs one lakh cheque the party had issued had bounced,” he said.

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