In what is being seen sounding early poll bugle, Himachal Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Dr Rajeev Bindal and leader of opposition (LoP) Jai Ram Thakur jointly announced that the BJP will launch a statewide mass agitation against the “anti-people policies, alleged corruption, administrative failures and unfulfilled promises of the Congress government led by chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu”.
Details
The decision was taken during a special meeting of the party’s senior leadership at the BJP state headquarters, Deep Kamal, Shimla.
Addressing a joint press conference, Bindal and Thakur said, “The people of Himachal Pradesh have already delivered a clear political verdict against the Congress government through the panchayati raj institutions and urban local body elections with BJP emerging victorious reflecting the growing dissatisfaction of the people with the present government. The responsibility of taking this public mandate to its logical conclusion now rests with the BJP.”
Bindal said the statewide movement will begin in August from the mandal level and will subsequently expand to assembly constituencies, district headquarters and finally the state level. He said BJP workers will reach every village and every section of society to expose “Congress government’s anti-people decisions and governance failures”.
Thakur said the BJP’s agitation will focus on the concerns of youth, women, farmers, orchardists, employees and every section of society that, according to them, has been neglected by the present government.
Terming it a “sustained democratic campaign”, Bindal said, “Beginning at the mandal level, it will gradually extend to every assembly constituency and district, where BJP leaders and workers will interact directly with the public, expose ‘government’s false guarantees, institutional closures, stalled development works and anti-people decisions’, and mobilise public opinion across the state”.
Thakur pitched in to add, “BJP would formally begin its public outreach even before the upcoming assembly session by visiting locations where development projects initiated by the previous BJP government had been discontinued or stalled.”
BJP’s mass agitation a political gimmick: Congress
The state Congress has dismissed the mass agitation proposed by the BJP against the state’s Congress government as a mere political gimmick and a failed attempt to divert public attention.
The Congress said that before approaching the people, the BJP must answer to the public—both at the national and state levels—regarding the NEET paper leak, irregularities in the alleged donations collected for the Ram Mandir construction, and the failures of its own tenure.
Reacting to the BJP’s press conference, state Congress general secretary (organisation) Vinod Zinta stated, “Any so-called mass agitation by the BJP would have no impact on the people of the state. The people of Himachal have clearly recognised the BJP’s true face and will not fall for its false propaganda and misinformation campaigns.”
