Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], August 17 (ANI): The BJP President of Himachal Pradesh, Rajiv Bindal, on Monday accused the Congress government of failing to fulfil its employment promises and imposing a growing financial burden on ordinary people through higher taxes, utility charges and other levies.
Addressing mediapersons after a joint meeting of the BJP's 25 organisational cells at the party headquarters, Deep Kamal Chakkar, Bindal said the BJP was preparing at the booth level for the 2027 Assembly elections while simultaneously mobilising different social and professional groups through its organisational cells.
The BJP state president claimed that nearly one lakh government posts were currently vacant in Himachal Pradesh and alleged that the Congress had failed to deliver on its 2022 election promise of providing one lakh government jobs.
"In the 2022 elections, the Congress made employment a major issue and promised one lakh government jobs. It was even promised that these jobs would be provided in the first Cabinet meeting and would be regular and permanent. Four years have passed, but for unemployed youth, this has remained nothing more than a betrayal," Bindal said.
He referred to statements made during the 2022 election campaign regarding vacancies in the government sector and said that the present situation showed that the number of vacant posts had increased further because employees had retired during the intervening period.
"About 40,000 more posts would have fallen vacant due to retirements over the last four years. Departments are being run on a contractual basis, while unemployed youth are feeling helpless and frustrated," he alleged.
Bindal said the anger among unemployed youth was increasingly visible and claimed that the BJP would take up the issue aggressively as part of its campaign ahead of the 2027 elections.
He also launched a broad attack on the CM Sukhu government's economic policies, alleging that the burden on the common man had increased substantially.
He claimed that successive increases in taxes and duties on petrol and diesel had resulted in a substantial additional burden on consumers.
"The government should have worked to increase people's income and reduce their expenditure. It has not done enough to increase incomes, but the expenditure of the common person has increased significantly," he said.
Bindal alleged that the government had increased taxes on cement and claimed that cement had become significantly more expensive in the state despite Himachal Pradesh being a major cement-producing region.
He also criticised increases in various government fees and duties, alleging that students, small businessmen and ordinary citizens were being forced to pay more for official documents and services.
On the public distribution system, Bindal alleged that changes in the system of lifting ration had caused inconvenience to beneficiaries and claimed that prices of pulses, edible oil, rice and flour had increased substantially.
He also criticised increased HRTC fares, claiming that people who previously spent around Rs 30 a day on commuting could now be spending close to Rs 100 in some cases. He alleged that the closure of several bus routes had further increased the dependence of people in rural areas on taxis and private transport.
Bindal also alleged that electricity and water had become more expensive and that the withdrawal or reduction of subsidies had added to household expenses.
He criticised the healthcare system, alleging that patients were facing higher charges for tests, investigations, registration and medicines and that the closure or weakening of the Himcare scheme had particularly affected poor families.
"The poor person used to go to hospital with a Himcare card and get treatment. Today, the burden on families has increased. Electricity is expensive, water is expensive and healthcare has become more expensive," he said.
Bindal questioned the government's expenditure priorities and alleged that despite collecting more money from citizens, development activity had slowed down.
"Where has the money collected from the pockets of poor and ordinary people gone?" he asked, alleging that several development activities and the opening of new educational institutions had been affected.
He further alleged that recruitment had slowed, vacancies had accumulated and retired employees were facing difficulties regarding various benefits.
He claimed that the Congress government had already borrowed around Rs 45,000 crore and alleged that, with annual borrowing continuing at a high level, the state's total debt could reach around Rs 60,000 crore by the time the government completes its tenure.
He said the BJP would continue to raise issues concerning unemployment, taxation, institutional closures, alleged corruption, nepotism and what he described as a "mafia raj" in the state.
Bindal said the BJP had already begun preparations for the 2027 Assembly elections and was strengthening the organisation from the booth level upwards.
"The BJP is preparing itself from the booth level to the state level. Our objective is to take the party's policies, ideology and programmes to every section of society and bring different social groups into the organisational fold," he said.
He said the BJP's 25 cells would play a key role in this strategy. These include cells dealing with legal affairs, sports, tourism, the Dev Samaj, transport, elections and other professional and social sectors.
According to Bindal, each cell would function as a bridge between the organisation and the section of society associated with it.
"Every cell is an expert group in its respective field. Its role should not be restricted to holding organisational programmes. It should study issues concerning its sector, understand people's problems and bring them before the organisation," he said.
He also asked the cells to communicate the policies and welfare initiatives of the Narendra Modi-led Central government to their respective constituencies and strengthen contact with people throughout the year.
"BJP is not an organisation that becomes active only during elections. It works among people 365 days a year," Bindal said.
He called for the cells to expand their activities to the district and mandal levels and organise meetings, outreach programmes and public-contact campaigns.
Bindal also criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his reported remarks concerning RSS workers in educational institutions.
He said that Gandhi's remarks and comments made by the state's Education Minister regarding recruitment during the previous government raised questions about the Congress government's approach to educational institutions.
Bindal also criticised Gandhi over his remarks concerning Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his reported comments on Vande Mataram.
"The language used against the country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi deserves condemnation. The word 'condemnation' itself is too mild for the language that was used," he said.
Responding to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's assertion that there had been no paper leak in the state under the Congress government, Bindal questioned the basis of the claim.
He alleged that students had been preparing for competitive examinations for three to four years but that examinations themselves had not been conducted for several posts.
"How can there be a paper leak when the paper itself has not been conducted?" Bindal asked.
He also alleged that "backdoor entries" were taking place in recruitment and referred to a statement by a minister claiming that around 700 people had been recruited.
"If 700 people have been recruited, how many of them went through an interview, written examination or any competitive process?" he asked, demanding greater transparency in government recruitment.
The joint meeting at Deep Kamal, the state headquarters of BJP in Shimla, was attended by state convenors and co-convenors of all 25 BJP cells.
State convenor Purushottam Guleria and co-convenor Rajpal Singh were also present.
(ANI)
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
