"CM infamous for false guarantees; trying to mislead people": LoP Jairam Thakur on Himachal budget

New Delhi [India], February 17 : In his first response to the state budget presented by Chief Minister Sukhwinder Sukhu on Saturday, the Leader of Opposition in the Himachal Assembly, Jairam Thakur, on Saturday said the former and his party are 'infamous' for making 'false guarantees'.
He added that the budgetary pledges were merely a ploy to influence and induce voters ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
"This was the second budget to be presented by the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh. No work has been done on 95 per cent of the projects that were outlined and announcements made in the last budget. The budget presented today was, more or less, a rehash of the one presented last year. They did not act on the promises made last time. None of the schemes announced in the last budget was implemented," the former CM said.
"The budget, this year, was presented just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The chief minister has yet again tried to mislead the people by making tall claims. The CM and the party that he represents have become infamous for their false guarantees. First, they lied to the people to grab power and then made a host of false promises in their inaugural budget. Not a single scheme announced in the first budget has been implemented to this day. Now, with the general elections around the corner, they have made some more announcements in their second budget. These promises are merely intended to mislead the people ahead of the upcoming elections. However, the people wouldn't be fooled by their schemes this time," the BJP leader added.
The BJP leader alleged further that the Sukhu government has done little more in their 14-month rule than take loans worth in excess of Rs 1,400 crore.
"Secondly, the schemes they have announced, especially the ones relating to Minimum Support Price (MSP) and milk, are nothing but a repeat of what they said earlier. At their first cabinet meeting after coming to power, they promised to ensure an MSP of Rs 100 per litre on buffalo milk and Rs 80 per litre on cow milk. They didn't fulfil any of the promises from the last budget. So how can anyone believe in their announcements this time," Thakur said.
He added that public welfare initiatives announced by the previous BJP government, worth around Rs 350 crores under the Himacare and Sahara schemes, are still pending implementation.
"He did not even mention it (the pending schemes). Today employees, pensioners, and the unemployed are on the streets after just a year of the Congress rule. Employees are up in arms over the delay in wages. Be it the electricity board, HRTC, or HPTDC, they are not getting their salaries on time," Thakur said.
The LoP added that in the budget, no specific commitment was made for any particular section of the society.
"They are only selling lies just before the elections. However, such ploys wouldn't work as the people have lost faith in this government," the former CM said.