State govt diverting development funds to pay salaries to staff: Nadda

The Congress government is diverting development funds to pay salaries to its employees and the state is reeling under a financial crisis, said BJP national president JP Nadda while addressing a public meeting at Bilaspur today.

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Nadda said that the development of the state had been stalled under the Congress government, which had turned a blind eye towards the problems of the people of the state. He added that it was during the BJP rule the state had experienced development. He alleged that the Congress government had always ignored the state and its people.

Nadda, who is also Union Health Minister, said the Congress was going through a phase of intellectual bankruptcy. He added that the Congress had become a party of near and dear ones while workers were being ignored. He alleged that the state government was using development funds given by the Centre for paying salaries and pension to its employees. He claimed that “such a situation arises when power goes into wrong hands”.

He said that no senior leader of the Congress had come to Himachal Pradesh after the disaster in 2023 while he along with Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur and former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur visited various affected places and the Central Government provided funds to help people in distress.

Nadda said that BJP governments had brought up AIIMS, PGI Satellite Centre, four medical colleges, Mother and Child Hospital, Cancer Care Centre and super specialty hospitals in Himachal. He added that the BJP government had set up Hydro Engineering College, four-lane highways and the railway network in the state.

He said that health welfare schemes in Himachal Pradesh were in a shamble and people were facing problems to avail of health care services. He added that there was a liability of Rs 355 crore under Ayushman Bharat while Rs 14.5 crore was payable to the PGI, Chandigarh.

Earlier, Nadda laid the foundation stone of a BJP office at Bilaspur and honoured the apple man of Bilaspur, Padma Shri Hariman Sharma. Jai Ram said that the state was passing through a painful period during the Congress rule. He added that on the one hand, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu speaks against religion and on the other, he was seeking funds from temples to run government programmes.

He said that the government was functioning in an autocratic manner and strangulating the freedom of speech. He added that cases were framed against political opponents and even against journalists.

Nadda said employees were not getting salaries and pension on time and the government was not fulfilling the guarantees that the Congress had given to people before the Assembly elections in 2022.

BJP president Rajeev Bindal, BJP state co-incharges Sanjay Tandon, Shrikant Sharma, MLAs Trilok Jamwal, Jeet Ram Katwal and Randheer Sharma were also present.