Himachal facing financial crisis? BJP blames freebie politics, CM Sukhu calls it 'rumour'

Why you are reading this: Congress in December 2022 attained a huge majority  by winning 40 seats in the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly and formed the government. Within months donw the line, the Himachal government led by CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is reportedly suffering from a financial crisis. As many as 15,000 state government employees from the State Transport Department, medical colleges, water management, and forest departments have faced a delay in receiving their monthly salaries. The local reports also suggest that the Sukhu government's treasury is facing an overdraft of Rs 1,000 crore and it has also applied for Rs 800 crore loan.

3 things you need to know:

1. BJP has linked the reported Himachal govt financial crisis with freebies that were announced by the Congress.
2. As many as 15,000 govt employees haven't received salaries that were normally disbursed on the 1st of every month.
3. BJP has accused the Congress-led state govt of taking a loan of Rs 7,000 crores in the last 6 months.

'Freebies making state bankrupt'

launching a scathing attack on the Himachal Pradesh government, Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Wednesday (June 14) said  that the freebie culture started by the grand old party is leading the state into bankruptcy. As per the Congress' poll manifesto, the party had promised a monthly allowance of Rs 1500 to women between 18 and 60 years old and also announced 300 units of free electricity to all households.

#LIVE | BJP slams Himachal Pradesh government over freebies, says 'Freebies making state bankrupt.'#BJP #HimachalPradesh #Freebies #AnuragThakur https://t.co/6CjsNJaatY pic.twitter.com/6TY05cdfAH

— Republic (@republic) June 14, 2023

Confirming the reports of Sukhu govt's financial instability, former Himachal Pradesh CM & BJP leader Jairam Thakur told ANI that since Congress has come to power in the state, steps to ensure financial stability have not been taken. he further asserted that the new govt has taken a loan of Rs 7,000 crores in the last 6 months and an overdraft situation has emerged in the state.

HRTC fuming over salary delays

The Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) driver union has questioned the state government for not paying the dues and the delay in salary. Man Singh Thakur, the president of the driver union of HRTC, regretted, "Earlier, certain dues were not paid to HRTC on time, and now the state government is delaying the salaries."

'Manipulated campaign'

Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu lashed out at the attempts to spread misinformation and false narratives and called the reports of financial crunch of this government 'a manipulated campaign'. 

All Govt employees of Himachal Pradesh are getting paid well on time as per the schedule . A manipulated campaign is being run from Delhi to malign the image of Himachal Pradesh.

No media/news channel in Himachal is aware of any such developments, wonder who is spreading these…

— Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (@SukhuSukhvinder) June 14, 2023

On the other hand, Naresh Chauhan, the media advisor of the Himachal CM said that salary is expected to be released by June 15. He has blamed the debt amount under the previous govt led by BJP for the delay in crediting salary to Himachal Road Ttransport Corporation.