Congress Goverment Hits A RoadBlock in Himachal Pradesh

Just a year ago, the people in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh had elected a Congress government. It was a landmark mandate as it offered a window of revival and survival to the grand old party. The Karnataka victory was a top up to the Himachal Pradesh win providing a momentum to the Congress party.

However, it has now hit a speed breaker as seen in the form the Assembly election defeats coming in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The Telangana Assembly results came as lone consolation, barely five months ahead of the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

It is in this context that the performance of the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh under Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu needs to be evaluated. Sukhu’s was a fresh face that held a lot of promise. If one looks at his conduct and that of his government there are certain things that stand out.

To begin with Sukhu proved to be an able handler of the unprecedented rain-induced disaster that had hit the state this year. He was the man on the ground during that period, and acted like a seasoned leader. His tenure till now has not been hit by any allegations of corruption.

But when it comes to delivering on promises made ahead of the Assembly polls last year there is a lot to be said. However, what has come to be known as the ‘Congress culture’, is also coming to the fore. The state has been witnessing bickering and a trust deficit within the workers and leaders of the party that has come out in the public. Party leaders not seen as being on the same page on crucial issues is another thing that has surfaced.

This has rattled the Congress workers and supporters on the ground who feel that such things send out the wrong message to the common man at this crucial juncture when things are headed towards the next Parliamentary elections. They also understand that the fight for the four Lok Sabha seats in the state is against a formidable foe in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that has huge resources in hand accompanied by an unmatched organisational strength.

There are some recent developments that need to be pointed out in this context. The first is about the state unit chief Pratibha Singh reportedly alleging that she was not taken into confidence regarding the celebrations on completion of one year of the Congress government in the state.

This was later downplayed by the other party leaders including Sukhu who reportedly said that all was well in the party. Then she called for replacing inactive office bearers of the party. It needs to be underlined that Pratibha is a heavyweight Lok Sabha member from the Mandi constituency. She is the wife of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh.

While Pratibha Singh’s ‘rant’ can be dismissed as a small complaint or miscommunication within the party, the Congress leadership has a lot to explain for the mess that was created ahead of the elections to the posts of deputy mayor and mayor in Solan Municipal Corporation.

Despite having a majority in the house along with the added advantage of the local Congress MLA getting the right to vote for these elections, the party squandered the post of the deputy mayor to the BJP. Not only this, the post of the mayor was also won by a party dissident who had contested against the official candidate put up by the party.

“If leaders of the stature of Pratibha Singh have to speak out their grievance in public, you can imagine the plight of lower rung leaders like us,” was the refrain of a party leader in a conversation with this reporter.

He further said, “The top brass needs to realise the message that goes down the rank and file of the party along with the common public when it comes to developments like those recorded during the elections of the mayor and deputy mayor in Solan.”

Earlier at the time of the disaster in the month of July, the state’s public works department

(PWD) minister Vikramaditya Singh who is the son of Pratibha Singh had put the government in a spot by reportedly saying that illegal mining was a factor responsible for the damage caused by the Beas River. His comments were run down by some of his cabinet colleagues including industries minister Harshvardhan Chauhan who had dismissed the allegations at that time.

But later inNovember the former’s stand was vindicated when a multi sector committee in its interim report to the government submitted that along with the climatic change, the unscientific and illegal mining along the river beds were responsible for the natural calamity in the state causing huge damage to life and property. The committee was constituted after the disaster that wreaked havoc in the state during the monsoons triggering flash floods and massive landslides.

A state government spokesperson said, “The report mentions that out of 131 stone crushers set up in the Beas River basin, 68 did not have the necessary permission and only 50 operators were found to have the valid permits. Apart from this, seven crushers were affected by the floods and few anomalies were found in the remaining six.

“Due to excessive muck dumping in the Beas river and on its banks, the flash floods caused enormous damage to life and both the public and the private property. The report mentioned that the environmental balance of the Beas river basin is under great pressure, which needs to be studied scientifically and has also stressed on suggesting short, medium and long term measures for the operation of stone crushers.”

Coming to the handling of the disaster, while Sukhu is being appreciated for his hands on approach and being on the ground all the while monitoring and supervising relief and rescue efforts the Achilles Heel is turning out to be his failure in fixing accountability and taking subsequent action against those responsible other than nature for the unprecedented misery of the people.

Observers as well as common people are asking questions, “How many officials, if any, have been taken to task for allowing haphazard construction of hotels and other buildings all over the state while throwing all the norms to the wind? Has there been any action taken against the all powerful builders of illegal constructions across the state?” The government needs to answer these pertinent questions being asked by the well educated and aware populace of the state.

“The change that was promised in the system ahead of last year’s polls is not visible. There can be no excuses now. If I have to evaluate the performance of the government over the last one year my response would be fifty-fifty. While the handling of the disaster was good and there has been not a single allegation of corruption against the government, the failure lies in getting the bureaucracy to implement the announcements made and the schemes initiated.

“For example there was a lot of talk about encouraging use of electric vehicles but there has hardly been any emphasis on setting up recharging stations, something that needs to be learnt from neighbouring Haryana,” political observer Adhir Rohal said.

“When we talk in context of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress has a long way to go given the fact that the other side is well equipped in all ways including the capacity to manufacture opinion on issues like the recent Supreme Court verdict on abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. We all know that they will play up the Ram Temple construction once it is inaugurated next month.

“The Congress cannot just bank on just having reverted to the old pension scheme (OPS) for the government employees. The employees are never satiated. Right now they are seeking a dearness allowance. They always have a tendency to quickly turn to the other side. The BJP will be attacking on multiple fronts as the Lok Sabha polls get nearer,” he added.

In terms of political evaluation, Sanjay Chauhan who is former Shimla mayor and a leader of Communist Party of India (Marxist) said, “There can be no impact without a change in the policy. The policies being implemented are nothing but an extension of those that were being implemented by the previous BJP government under Jairam Thakur.

“Whether it is in the sphere of education or privatisation of things or the recruitment model of contractual employment, there has been no change. A real change was expected when the people had voted for this government by rejecting the communal polarisation of the BJP and going by the promises made by the Congress ahead of the polls. But this real change remains elusive as of now.”

The ‘celebration’ of the government’s one year in office is also being debated on the count whether there was any need to celebrate. Observers and even some retired bureaucrats are of the view that anniversaries of being in power are an occasion to introspect on what has been executed and what needs to be done in the remaining period of being in power.

Some of them are recalling the era of former CM Virbhadra Singh on this count saying that he used such occasions to evaluate rather than celebrate. The BJP of course has questioned the celebrations on expected lines which will be elaborated upon later.

Meanwhile, the government marked its first anniversary of being in power by a show of strength in Dharamshala on December 11. Sukhu while addressing a sizable public meeting during the ‘Vyavastha Parivartan ka Ek Saal’ state level function announced to give Rs. 1,500 from January, 2024 to all the women of Lahaul-Spiti district who are over 18 years of age.

He said that the promise made to all the women of the state would also be met in a phased manner. He announced that the women who currently get Rs. 1,100 as pension will also be provided Rs. 1500. He said the state government will bear the expenses for higher education of children of widows from the next fiscal year.

The Chief Minister also announced an increase in the purchase price of milk by Rs 6, and stated that the government will start the cow dung purchase scheme from the next month. "The state government is earnestly working for the welfare of the common man, where women, youth, all sections of the society, including farmers and employees, are getting due respect," Sukhu said.

He promised 20,000 employment opportunities in the government sector very soon, including Van Mitra, Patwari, Multi Task Worker, education, Police and other departments claiming that this number is more than that were given in the entire tenure of the previous BJP government.

The CM added, "In one year, our government has laid the strong foundation for making Himachal self-reliant and by the year 2027, Himachal will become an ideal example of a self-reliant state. Our dedicated and continuous efforts would ensure that Himachal becomes one of the most prosperous states of India by the year 2032.

"I am a dedicated party worker and no member of my family was in politics, but the Congress Party, considering the penance of 40 years, put its trust on me and handed over the responsibility to serve the people of the state. After I took over the charge of the Chief Minister of Himachal, I decided that we should not work like a routine government does.

“My aim was that our policies and programmes benefit the last person standing in the queue. In the last one year, our government has taken many steps to reduce the gap between the common man and the special man."

Sukhu claimed that three guarantees promised ahead of last year’s Assembly polls have been fulfilled in the first one year of the government. Referring to the fiscal health of the state, he said the previous BJP government took a huge loan of Rs. 14,000 crore in its last year with the intention of winning the elections.

The consequences of huge debt were passed on to the present government.

Apart from dealing with the situation, the government also decided to inform the people about the poor economic condition of the state. For this, a committee was formed under the leadership of the Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and a white paper was brought on the state's finances.

He also attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the issue of disaster saying that his government brought a resolution in the state Assembly to declare the disaster as a national disaster, but “the BJP did not stand with the affected and did not support the state government's resolution”.

He further charged that no special package has been received from the Central government yet. Despite this, with its limited resources, the state government announced a special package of Rs. 4,500 crore, so that the affected people can get relief by claiming adequate assistance.

The BJP on the other hand is playing up the Rs 633.73 crore assistance provided under the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) to the state.

In a tweet, the former chief minister Jairam Thakur said “The Central government has approved additional financial assistance of Rs 633.73 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund for Himachal Pradesh.

“There was a lot of loss of life and property in Himachal during the natural disaster and with the help of the centre, Himachal is getting a lot of help to compensate for the loss. To deal with the disaster, assistance of Rs 1500 crore has been received so far from the central government. Heartfelt gratitude from Himachal to Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah ji and the central government.” https://x.com/jairamthakurbjp/status/1734781643326685377?s=20

There is perceptible anger among the people because Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not even visited the disaster hit state recently. The common sentiment is that he would have visited the state which he refers to as his ‘Karambhoomi’ given his stint as the organisational in-charge in the 1990s had there been a BJP government in the state. There is also disgruntlement over the centre not declaring the tragedy faced by the people a national disaster.

While the government held its show of strength in Dharamshala, the opposition BJP observed December 12 as ‘Aakrosh Diwas’ across the state. It also held a show of strength at Mandi where while addressing a well attended rally.

Thakur said, “wherever we go in Himachal Pradesh people tell us that work has come to a standstill, whether it is construction of roads, bridges, school buildings or hospitals. So what has started? Throughout the state from one corner to the other there are hoardings claiming ‘Naya Daur Vyavastha Parivartan’ (new era marked by change in system). I want to say ‘Naya daur purana hone wala hai’ (the new era is about to get outdated soon).”

The BJP has been attacking the government on issues of lack of employment opportunities, deteriorating law and order situation and non implementation of promises made by the Congress ahead of the last elections. Its leaders are currently focusing on the ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’ wherein the party leaders and cadres are undertaking a mass contact programme highlighting the achievements of the central government under Modi.

Observers say that the positioning of both the Congress and the BJP in the state in context of the forthcoming parliamentary polls will begin in a few days.

Cover Photograph: The Congress government completes a year in Himachal Pradesh with a function at Dharamshala.