No demand to be made before PM as he is always giving to HP: CM Jai Ram Thakur

Shimla, May 30

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Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday said no special demands for Himachal Pradesh would be made before Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he considered the state his home and had always acceded to the demands raised before him.

Addressing a press conference here, Thakur said all preparations for the rally to mark the eighth anniversary of the NDA government had been completed.

“It will be a historic event when the PM will interact with the beneficiaries of 16 Central schemes. The event will be viewed by 17 lakh people across the country,” he said.

“We will not make any special demands before the PM as he has always been sympathetic towards the problems faced by Himachal. The Atal Rohtang tunnel, AIIMS at Bilaspur, Rs 800 crore as special assistance and the Rs 21,000 crore ADB tourism project are all due to the PM’s personal interest and affinity for Himachal,” said Thakur.

The CM said the prime minister would arrive at the rally venue on the Ridge at around 10.50am after a roadshow at the landing site at Annandale.

“He will hold a half-an-hour interaction with the beneficiaries of 16 flagship programmes of the NDA government,” he stated.

He said the PM would release the 11th instalment of ‘Kisan Samman Nidhi’ at the rally which would benefit about 80 crore people.

Thakur said chief ministers of all states would join the function virtually. However, BJP National president JP Nadda would not be attending the function.

The CM said Himachal would always remain indebted to PM Modi for showering special love and affection to the state.

“Himachal is fortunate that the PM chose the state as the venue for celebrating eight years of the NDA government,” he said.

Thakur lashed out at Punjab’s AAP government for politicising the issue of withdrawing security given to the VIPs.

“I personally feel that the decision to withdraw security extended to people is politically motivated to grab national headlines. Such sensitive decisions must be based on the threat perception faced by the individual and not for public applause,” he remarked when asked about the killing of the Punjabi singer.

He also criticised the AAP governent in Punjab for being soft on Khalistan supporters.

“It was within five days that we arrested the two youth responsible for putting up Khalistan banners outside Vidhan Sabha in Dharamsala,” he said. Despite Khalistan flags put across all over Punjab, the AAP government didn’t seem interested in acting against such elements, he added.