Shimla, June 14: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari targeted Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh over corruption charges. He said the Chief Minister was busy in his court cases due to which development of the state was suffering. Gadkari was here on Tuesday to address a Tridev Summelan of the BJP at Dhalpur.
He was accompanied by Union Health Minister JP Nadda, Mandi MP Ramswaroop Sharma, Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur, former Chief Minister PK Dhumal, state BJP in charge Mangal Pandey and other leaders. Addressing the party workers, Gadkari said that due to corruption charges, Virbhadra Singh had tarnished the image of the state.
“Now it is the duty of the BJP workers to work hard and apprise the people of the state of the shortcomings of the state government. He urged the party worker to dedicate their services at grass-root level to oust the Congress from power in the upcoming Assembly elections. A wave was already there in BJP’s favor.
“The Centre has approved several development projects for the state, including 61 national highways and four four-lane projects, but the state government had failed to develop DPRs of these projects to execute the work. The Centre had allocated Rs 29 crore for preparing the DPR of these projects but the state government seemed reluctant to bring the development to the state”, he added.
Gadkari said that he was keen to develop a dry port in Himachal Pradesh to export handloom and apple produce but it will depend on the state government whether it will provide land for the purpose.“If the BJP comes to power in the state, my ministry will initiate Rs 1 lakhs crore development projects in Himachal Pradesh”, he said.
“The Congress is a party which believed in family politics. The party was dominated by one family, while the BJP is the only party which believes in democratic set-up”, he added. Union Health Minister JP Nadda also launched a scathing attack on the state government by saying that the corruption had increased manifold and the government machinery did not work without pocketing profit money.
“The Centre has approved Rs 150 crore for a super-specialty block at Shimla but the state government has failed to provide land for the same. Similarly, in Mandi a cancer unit was approved at a cost of Rs 45 crore but the state government could not prepare DPR of this project”, he added.
“The Centre has approved set three medical colleges at Nahan, Mandi and Chamba, while Rs 190 crore has been approved for a medical college in Hamirpur district. Apart from this Rs 1,000 crore had been approved for an AIIMS in Himachal Pradesh”, he added. State BJP in charge Mangal Pandey and former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal also addressed the party workers and encouraged them to work hard at booth level for the win of party.
Source Tribune India
