Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators staged a protest outside the Himachal Pradesh vidhan sabha against what it termed the “failure” of Himachal Pradesh government to generate employment and its decision to resume lottery sales and allow controlled cannabis cultivation in the state.
“Congress came to power with a promise of providing employment. The committee constituted on the issue has made recommendations, but cultivation is yet to be started. Sharma pointed out that this question had been raised over the past three sessions, yet the response remained the same each time: that the information was being gathered. BJP MLA Vipin Singh Parmar also demanded an answer from the government on this issue.
But the situation on the ground is that the number of employees when BJP was in power was at an all time high of 1.91 lakh which has now dipped to 1.72 lakh,” Thakur said.
“If the government wants to improve Himachal Pradesh’s economic condition, it needs better fiscal management and not a lottery,” said the LoP, while demanding immediate withdrawal of the decision to restart lotteries. Hitting out at the state government for allowing controlled cannabis cultivation, Thakur said, “There is no clarity about cannabis cultivation so far. Accuses govt of of withholding information, Congress retorts The BJP alleged that the government was concealing “crucial information”.
The opposition was incensed when the government responded—to questions raised by BJP MLAs Sudhir Sharma and Vipin Singh Parmar regarding recruitments by the State Selection Commission—by stating that the information was still being compiled. Because many families lost all their money, trying their luck”, lottery was banned in the state in 1999.
Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jai Ram Thakur said, “Lottery was an addictive habit. He said, “Lottery will ruin the youth as people will get addicted to it like any other drug addiction.
