Two days after PM’s remarks, HP CM Sukhu fights fire with fire

shimla: Just two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised Himachal Pradesh’s Congress government over the state’s financial troubles and unpaid salaries at a rally in Kurukshetra, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu responded with sharp remarks.

Sukhu claimed that the BJP leaders from Himachal have provided misleading information to the PM with the intent to confuse the public and misrepresent the situation.

Clearly signalling an ongoing political slugfest, Sukhu said the financial crunch is more of a BJP problem created when it was ruling the state. He said his focus is on implementing fiscal reforms to make the state self-reliant by 2027.

At Kurukshetra, the PM had asked the voters to save Haryana and prevent it from crumbling the way Himachal did by choosing the Congress.

“The Congress government was formed two years ago, but look at the situation today. It had fed lies to every section of the society there. The government employees have to go on strike to get their rightful salary,” the PM had said.

Sukhu, however, clarified that under the present state government, the treasuries had never gone into overdraft, a fact verifiable by the RBI and Union Finance Ministry.

The CM said that as far as salaries and pensions were concerned, the employees and pensioners of various boards and corporations continue to receive their salaries and pensions on the first day of the month. The state government had taken steps to rectify the cash flow mismatch in order to ensure financial discipline. As a result, it had been decided to release the salaries of the employees of various government departments on the fifth day of every month.

“This decision will save Rs 3 crore per month in form of interest of the loan,” he said. He also said that the Congress reinstated the old pension scheme to ensure the welfare of over 1.36 lakh government employees.