Ahead of Narendra Modi's Himachal Pradesh visit, state Congress accuses PM of not fulfilling poll promises

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh Congress on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not fulfilling his poll promises and demanded a white paper about the government’s performance at the BJP rally at Bilaspur on Tuesday. Hitting out at Modi on the eve of his visit to the state, HPCC general secretary Naresh Chauhan said the people wanted to know what the government had done in the past three and a half years and when the “achhe din” would come. [caption id=“attachment_3961395” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] Talking to reporters, Chauhan said Modi had visited the state twice in the past but the people had got nothing except “false promises” even as the employment opportunities had reduced and prices had gone up. He claimed that instead of removing poverty, the NDA government was removing the poor. He claimed that Modi addressed people through “Mann ki Baat” but failed to read their hearts and that it was high time the prime minister understood the actual needs of the people and provided them employment. “Prices of commodities are touching the sky but the government was only worried about Ambani and Adani. GST and demonetisation ruined the economy but the government was describing it as a surgical strike on black money,” he claimed. He accused the central government of making false claims about development, saying the Congress governments had carried out massive development and that would be its poll plank in the upcoming Assembly polls in the state. On the return of expelled leaders into the Congress, he said that those who were keen to come back into the party only to contest elections were not welcome. The rebels, who had worked or contested elections against party candidates, would have to apply to block and district committees who would send recommendations to the PCC for appropriate action. The final decision would be taken by the disciplinary committee, he added. There are four former MLAs and 33 other leaders seeking re-entry into the party. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has already supported the demand for taking back the rebels without any riders and cases of these leaders are pending with the disciplinary committee.