Utterly Misled By 'Khatakhat', 'Tughlaq' Economics Of Rahul Gandhi: BJP On Congress Government's Financial Woes In Himachal

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday (4 September) blamed Rahul Gandhi's "khatakhat", "Tughlaq" economics for the financial woes of Himachal's Congress government.

This comes after nearly  2.15 lakh employees and 90,000 pensioners of the hill state did not get salaries and pensions on 1 September, reportedly marking first such instance, due to the ongoing financial crisis.

Just days ago, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had announced that his Cabinet ministers would not take their salaries for the next two months.  

"Utterly misled by the irrational, 'khatakhat', woodoo, and Tughlaq economics of Rahul Gandhi, the Congress government in Himachal has plunged the state into financial ruin and brink of bankruptcy. Like an unreliable, unsafe and precarious leaky boat, the Congress government, with its reckless, false promises it made to the people during elections has now sunk the state and the future of its people into despair and darkness," BJP national spokesperson C R Keshavan said.

He also questioned the silence of the Gandhi family on the financial crisis in Himachal.

"But one needs to ask, why is the Gandhi family quiet? We all know, we have read in papers from time to time that they go to Shimla and Himachal Pradesh for a vacation or for a holiday. But now, why have they abandoned the good people of Himachal Pradesh? Why is he (Rahul Gandhi) maintaining such a steely and studied silence..." Kesavan added.

Former Himachal CM and BJP leader Jairam Thakur also slammed the state government, saying that the situation in the state is very difficult from the economic point of view and the hill state is in a complete crisis.

"Himachal Pradesh has more employees than any other state in proportion to its population. So we must accept the fact that a large part of the provisions made in our budget, about 39-40 per cent, goes into pensions and salaries... The employees have not received their salary, the pensioners have not received their pension. If we look at this situation, then the state is really going through a very bad phase economically," Thakur added.

Himachal government has reportedly been heavily relying on borrowings through market loans with an estimated debt of Rs 86,589 crore.

It has committed liabilities of over Rs 10,000 crore pertaining to arrears of employees and pensioners, to the wall.

Further, the state's expenses have shot up reportedly due to the restoration of the old pension scheme, freebies, and subsidies given to commercial establishments.

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