Himachal may cut pension after poll, says Jai Ram Thakur

Mandi, May 29

Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur today said that the state government had failed to fulfil promises that the Congress had made to people before the 2022 Assembly elections. He alleged that after the Lok Sabha elections, the state government may slash pension calculated at the rate of 50 per cent of the last drawn salary at present to 30 per cent of the last drawn salary.

Thakur, while addressing mediapersons here, highlighted unfulfilled commitments of the Congress government and accused Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu of misleading people on poll guarantees. He said that the Congress had been power in the state for 16 months but its government had not fulfilled any of its guarantees.

He criticised the government on the alleged poor handling of the Mahila Samman Nidhi and job generating initiatives. He said that not even one job had been created though the Congress had promised to provide one lakh jobs every year. He added that the Mahila Samman Nidhi had not been started yet.

Thakur said that the Congress’ promise to provide 300 units of free electricity to consumers had not been fulfilled. He questioned the silence of Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh over the alleged diversion of funds earmarked by the previous BJP government for projects in Mandi district such as the construction of an airport in Mandi and the construction of Shiv Dham and a college building. He alleged that the state government had curtailed the status of Sardar Patel University.

He accused the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri of deceiving people on various issues. He challenged Sukhu to provide evidence regarding allegations that Rs 55 lakh was seized from a candidate in Hamirpur.

Thakur expressed confidence that the BJP would win all four seats in the Lok Sabha elections and all six seats in the Assembly byelections.