Congress, BJP in a war of words over Central aid to Himachal

A war of words has broken out between the Congress and the BJP following BJP national president JP Nadda’s felicitation function in Shimla, where he claimed that the Centre had given Rs 3,789 crore as disaster relief to the state along with funds for other developmental work.

Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Vinay Kumar has outrightly rejected the claim, saying that the Centre has not provided any special assistance to the state to cope with disaster. “What Nadda said is devoid of truth and was aimed at misleading people. Nadda should clarify how much money was given and under which scheme and head,” said Kumar.

Responding to Kumar’s contention, senior BJP leader Satpal Satti said the Congress had been rattled by Nadda’s clear and factual statements and was resorting to lies and propaganda. “To say that the Centre did not provide any help to the state as disaster relief is a complete lie. The HPCC president is trying to mislead the people through such baseless statements,” said Satti.

As for the Rs 1,500 crore relief package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a few months back, Satti said the relief package was being processed. “The financial assistance is not released due to any political pressure or statements. It will be released as per the rules,” said Satti, challenging the state government to reveal how many formal proposals, detailed project reports and utilisation certificates it had sent to the Centre.

BJP state president Rajiv Bindal said Nadda had put the state government in the dock with his fact-based speech. “His speech was an eye-opener. The Centre is helping but the state government is stalling the development works,” claimed Bindal.

The HPCC president, meanwhile, claimed that the state was pushed into the economic crisis during the “double engine” BJP government. “So the claims Nadda made in Shimla yesterday lack any substance and credence,” said Kumar. He further alleged that Nadda had not given any credible assurance or provided any concrete help to the state despite being a Union Minister over the last three years. “And all BJP MPs do nothing but try and mislead people with fake statistics,” he alleged.

Satti hit back saying that the Congress government was levelling false allegations against the BJP and the Centre to divert people’s attention from its own failures. “The truth is, the state is in economic crisis due to the mismanagement, administrative chaos and freebies announced by the Congress government,” said Satti.