Law and order collapsed, mafia rule prevailing, says LoP Jai Ram

Former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Congress government in Himachal, alleging that law and order had completely collapsed under Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and that “mafia rule” was prevailing in the state.

Addressing the Manali and Lahaul Assembly Sanyukt Morcha Karyakarta Sammelan at Katrain in the Manali subdivision, Thakur said Congress leaders, “intoxicated by power”, had failed to ensure the safety of both common citizens and government employees.

Condemning recent attacks on a kanungo and a patwari in Kullu district, the Leader of the Opposition warned that if the government continued to shield the guilty, the consequences would be serious. He said ministers and senior officers appeared unconcerned, while ordinary people and government staff were feeling increasingly insecure. Such incidents, he added, reflected the deteriorating law-and-order situation in the state.

Taking direct aim at the CM, Thakur said a government’s primary duty was to take decisions in public interest, but the situation in Himachal had become both laughable and alarming. He alleged that the government was preoccupied with trivial issues — such as probing who ate the CM’s samosa or who leaked news about eating jangli murga — while remaining silent on grave matters, including fatal bus accidents, blasts outside police stations in Shimla and Nalagarh and attacks on government officials by mafias.

Thakur further accused the CM and the Deputy CM of focusing on distributing cabinet ranks to their friends and extending job and pension benefits to family members, instead of addressing pressing public concerns. He said lakhs of unemployed youth were still waiting for the fulfilment of the Congress’ pre-election guarantee of providing one lakh government jobs every year.