Himachal Pradesh's Financial Turmoil: Opposition Blames Ruling Congress

In a heated debate in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, Opposition Leader Jai Ram Thakur accused the Congress government of worsening the state's financial crisis. Highlighting budget cuts and increased debts, he criticized wasteful expenditures. The government's defensive stance and internal blame games added to the friction.

In the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Monday, Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur launched a scathing critique of the Congress government, accusing them of exacerbating the state's financial crisis and putting the onus on them to rectify the situation.

During the debate on the state's financial status under Rule 130, Thakur pointed out that only 28% of the budget is available for development compared to 39.56% in 2017-18, while expenditure on salaries and pensions has surged to 40%, up from 27% in 2017-18.

Thakur, a former chief minister, highlighted that the state's debt was Rs 48,000 crore when the BJP came to power in 2017 and that loans amounted to Rs 19,600 crore over five years. He accused the current government of nearing a Rs one lakh crore debt mark and of wasteful spending, including Rs 6 crore on legal defense for Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and salary hikes for board chairpersons.

Accusations of mismanagement and escalating debts were met with strong denials from the ruling party. Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri refuted claims of mortgaging temple assets and assured that concessions for women in HRTC buses would remain untouched.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan shifted the blame for the financial troubles onto the previous BJP administration, further intensifying the partisan clash.

(With inputs from agencies.)