Little scope for third party in Himachal Pradesh, says LoP Mukesh Agnihotri

Our Correspondent

UNA, MARCH 28

Leader of the Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri today said there was little scope for a third party in Himachal Pradesh while referring to the upcoming Assembly elections here.

Addressing mediapersons, he said the political situation was such that people had remained polarised around the two traditional rival parties.

The Congress leader, however, cautioned the party cadre to stick to the roots to ensure that the BJP was trounced in the state. The BJP government was already sensing defeat at the hands of the Congress. The BJP was suddenly seeing a ray of hope in the form of a third political party to confuse the electorate and continue in power.

Taking a dig at CM Jai Ram Thakur, Agnihotri said the CM’s dream project of an airport in Mandi district had failed miserably. Another dream project, that of Union Minister Anurag Thakur on laying the Una-Hamirpur rail line, had also met the same fate.

Agnihotri claimed that the wasteful expenditure like purchasing a fleet of expensive cars for bureaucrats and ministers, besides helicopter for the CM without any financial transparency, spoke volumes about the misadministration and highhandedness of the bureaucracy in view of a weak government.

He said the mafia was reigning supreme and liquor vends had not been auctioned for the fourth year in a row, causing a loss of Rs 1,000 crore to the government coffers. This was also the reason for the illegal parallel liquor trade and mushrooming liquor factories. Sand mafia continued to thrive in Una despite a ban by the National Green Tribunal, he said.

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