Congress misused power to win Shimla MC poll: Rajeev Bindal

Shimla, May 8

The BJP today urged the party cadre to gear up for the Lok Sabha elections due next year. It accused the Congress government of misusing power to win the recent Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) elections.

Ex-CM: Gear up for LS elections

We should set a target to win the parliamentary elections next year. We need to overcome all shortcomings that may have resulted in the BJP’s defeat in the Shimla MC elections.

Jai Ram Thakur, former cm

The top state BJP leaders held a meeting here to look into the reasons for the defeat in the SMC elections. State BJP president Rajeev Bindal, Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, state Organisational Secretary Sidharthan, Shimla Lok Sabha MP Suresh Kashyap and SMC election in-charge and Paonta Sahib MLA Sukh Ram Chaudhary, besides nine newly elected BJP councillors also attended the meeting.

Bindal alleged, “The Congress right from the day one of forming government misused power to win the SMC elections. It tampered with the roaster, got around 20,000 new votes of outsiders made and announced the payment of additional DA to government employees. It also announced that the services of employees would be regularised.”

He said that these facts came to light during deliberations on the reasons for the BJP’s defeat in the elections.

Thakur urged BJP workers to gear up for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “We should set a target to win the parliamentary elections next year. We need to overcome all shortcomings that may have resulted in the party’s defeat in the SMC elections,” he said.

The former Chief Minister said that BJP workers had campaigned tirelessly for the party candidates in the SMC elections. “The BJP is the biggest political party with most dedicated workers. So, all that we need to do is to shun complacency and gear up for the Lok Sabha elections,” he added.

He said that 160 workers had campaigned for the party candidates in the SMC elections and 150 meetings were held in the run up to the polling.

Chaudhary said the Congress won on the back of fake votes. “The Congress government manipulated the roaster to benefit its candidates but still the BJP performed quite well,” he added.