With the assembly elections round the corner, the political battle in the cool climes of Himachal Pradesh is getting hotter with rivals not missing any opportunity to fire a salvo at each other.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is campaigning aggressively in the state, on Monday took a dig at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the Congress general secretary said that the saffron party had failed to fill fuel in its โdouble engineโ despite ruling the state for five years.
Priyanka Gandhi made the remarks at a public meeting in Unaโs Haroli assembly constituency where Congress legislature party leader Mukesh Agnihotri is contesting.
Incidentally, Agnihotri is one of the chief ministerial aspirants from the party along with party state chief Pratibha Singh and campaign committee chairman Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
Addressing a massive rally, Priyanka Gandhi also hits out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his statement of changing medicines frequently neither helps in curing the ailment nor benefits anyone.
โYou are being told that you are sick and keep having the old medicine. Donโt be misled and bring about a change for a better future for the people of the state,โ Priyanka Gandhi told the crowd.
Pointing out the corruption in the state, she said, โHimachal Pradesh has โน70,000 crore debt. There are scams and more scams whether it is teachersโ recruitment or PPE kits or police recruitment. And even then they are saying donโt change the medicine.โ
She further said that if Congress comes to power it will clear one lakh government jobs and implement the old pension scheme (OPS) in the first cabinet meeting.
โRemember, these polls will decide your future. Why are people not getting the old pension scheme when they are getting it in Congress-ruled states? Think about it,โ the Congress leader said.
Taking a potshot at the BJP over the 63,000 vacancies in government jobs, Priyanka Gandhi said, โWhy are these posts not filled yet? We will provide one lakh government jobs, but they (BJP) say this is not possible. If this was not possible, then how did we manage to do it in Chhattisgarh?โ
โToday the unemployment rate is the lowest in that state (Chhattisgarh) because our government has given five lakh jobs in the last three years,โ she added.
Attacking the BJP over the Agnipath scheme, the Congress leader said that earlier, about 4,000 people used to be recruited from Himachal, โnow only 500 will go into the armed forces, out of which 75 per cent will come backโ.
โThey (BJP) will say anything to stay in power. But they forget their promises after pollsโฆTeach them a lesson. Show them that that election will not be won on money,โ she said.
In its manifesto for the Himachal Pradesh polls, Congress has promised restoration of the OPS, 300 units of free electricity, a โน680-crore StartUp fund, one lakh jobs and โน1,500 per month for women between 18 and 60 years old.
