Cong govt spent over Rs 11 200 crore on interest on loan taken by previous govts Himachal CM Sukhu

     Shimla, Dec 11 (PTI) The present Congress government has taken Rs 28,000 crore loan in the past two years out of which over Rs 11,200 crore was spent to pay interest on loan taken by the previous governments since 1971, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Wednesday.
     He also said that Rs 7,800 was spent on repaying the principal amount of loan while Rs 9,000 crore on development.
     Speaking at a programme to mark completion of two years of Congress government in office in Bilaspur, Sukhu said that this is not a celebration.
     "It is just a programme and we would celebrate when Himachal Pradesh becomes self-reliant in 2027," he said.
     The chief minister reiterated the challenges of financial crunch, worst monsoon disaster in 2023 and "political conspiracy" leading to bypolls on nine assembly seats faced by the Congress government in the past two years.
     Sukhu said that 75,000 tourists were rescued during the monsoon disaster last year.
     "I am aware of the Union government's step-motherly treatment to the state," he said and added that Himachal has still not received any funds under Post-Disaster Need Assessment (PDNA) for last year's monsoon disaster. The state is seeking Rs 9,000 crore for the disaster.
     He said that the Congress won six out of nine seats in assembly bye-elections and its vote share increased by 14 per cent in Lok Sabha polls, and added that God and people of the state saved his government.
     The seats fell vacant after nine MLAs including six Congress rebels and three independent MLAs had cross voted in favour of the BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan in Rajya Sabha elections.
     Listing the government's initiatives in the past two years, Sukhu said there is no crunch of funds for development and maintained that he would not back out from taking strong decisions in the interest of the state and its people.
     "The Union government is using the Enforcement Directorate against me...the BJP has been making baseless allegations for the past four months," he alleged.
     Taking a dig at BJP president and Union Health Minister J P Nadda at his home turf Bilaspur, Sukhu said it is sad that a leader of his stature talks about toilet tax in public rally.
     The chief minister claimed that the BJP is divided in five groups -- J P Nadda, Anurag Thakur, Jai Ram Thakur, Rajiv Bindal and the fifth group is of Congress rebels now in BJP -- and all these BJP leaders are protesting against the Congress to save their own seats.
     In spite of huge debt liability inherited by the previous BJP government, the Congress worked with the theme of 'Vyavastha Parivartan' (change of system) and restored the Old Pension Scheme benefiting 1.36 lakh employees of the state, he added.
     The chief minister also launched six schemes and distributed financial assistance to beneficiaries during the event.
     Taking a jibe at the chief secretary, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said, "Tell your officials who hold discussions inside closed doors everyday that the Congress government would not fall."
     Referring to the inquiry into samosa incident, Agnihotri said that the director general of police should take care of his samosas. "CM na samosa khate hai, na hume khane dete hai (the CM neither eats samosa nor let us eat it)," he added.
     He termed the BJP leaders as anti-state and Leader of Opposition Thakur as "leader of liars". "I would resign if any employee of HRTC has not got salary and Thakur should resign if the allegations are false."
     Speaking on the occasion, state Congress chief Pratibha Singh said, "When the organization is strengthened, the government becomes stronger." However, Singh was visibly upset after she was asked to cut short her speech.
     Accusing the BJP of engaging in "petty politics", Singh in a statement said that the opposition party should not try to turn the Raj Bhawan into "raajaneeti ka akhada" (arena of politics).
     AICC in-charge of Himachal Congress Rajiv Shukla said that people's verdict is not acceptable to the BJP which keeps trying to topple the non-BJP governments, but the its tactics failed in Himachal.
     He also took a dig at the BJP leaders for their "inability" to stop attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)