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Journalism of Courage
With Assembly elections approaching, the BJP has stepped up the announcements and inaugurations of development projects in Himachal Pradesh. While Prime Minister Modi is in the poll-bound state on Thursday for his second visit in 10 days to unveil a slew of development projects, Chief Minister Jairam Thakur has also been touring the state, announcing new projects and addressing public meetings.
The state government has announced and inaugurated projects worth more than Rs 4,000 crore in different constituencies over the past month, drawing criticism from the Opposition that claims that the promises are being made without adequate budgetary allocations.
The CM on Tuesday sanctioned projects worth Rs 1,000 crore in places such as Una, Hamirpur, and Kangra. Of these, projects valued at more than Rs 300 crore were inaugurated virtually. The majority of the projects include local facilities such as roads, water projects, and bridges. The CM has also been inaugurating schools, government centres, and other capacity-building projects.
On September 29, the CM inaugurated the Atal Super Speciality Hospital at Chamiyana, near Shimla, under the PM Swasthya Suraksha Yojana — III. Medical infrastructure has been a key part of the ruling party’s development push, with the PM also having inaugurated AIIMS Bilaspur earlier this month. The state government has also declared it will set up new medical centres in different parts of the state.
Some of the key policies that Thakur has highlighted in his recent public meetings include the Mukhya Mantri Grihani Yojana under which 3.35 lakh women have been given free gas connections and the Mukhya Mantri Swawlamban Yojana under which a 35 per cent subsidy was granted to new entrepreneurs. In almost every speech, the CM has mentioned the impact of the Mukhya Mantri Shagun Yojana, which provided Rs 31,000 to girls in Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
The CM has also extensively talked about his government’s Nari Ko Naman Yojana under which a 50 per cent concession is given to women in state-run buses. In the coming elections, the number of male and female voters is nearly equal at 27 lakh.
The government has also been projecting HIMCARE — it comes under the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat Scheme — as a flagship scheme that provides medical cover up to Rs 5 lakh per year for three years for an annual cost of Rs 1,000. For some beneficiaries, the annual cost is Rs 365.
‘Double-engine’ government
The Jairam Thakur administration has also made the coordination between the Centre and the state a key poll plank. With posters of Modi spread across the state, the state BJP has been attributing this development push to the Union government and the “due attention” being paid to projects in the hill state. The Rs 1,900-crore bulk drug park in Una — out of which Rs 1,100 crore CIF (common infrastructure facilities) funding is being granted by the Centre — is one of the projects that the ruling party is highlighting. Modi is scheduled to lay its foundation on Thursday.
The “double-engine” government is a term that the BJP has used to appeal to voters in many a state election. The party claims that voting for it will prove to be more beneficial for a state’s development as it is in power in the Centre. Modi repeated the need for a “double-engine government” for better development of states during his election campaigns in Tripura, Assam, West Bengal, and most recently in Uttar Pradesh and Goa, where elections were held in February and March this year.
On Thursday, Modi flagged off the inaugural run of the new Vande Bharat Express in Una. In Chamba district, he is scheduled to lay the foundation stones of two hydropower projects and launch the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana-III.
In an interview to The Indian Express last month, Himachal BJP president Suresh Kashyap said beneficiaries of various state and central government policies were an important vote bank and they would ensure that the party returns to power. The state unit chief said there were more than 25 lakh such beneficiaries who were likely to swing the election.
Questioning the government’s spending spree, the Opposition accused it of rushing into inaugurations and announcements to make up for a lack of development in the last five years. “The state government should come out with a proper Budget to justify these announcements. They must tell the public where they will get the money from. There is a debt of Rs 70,000 crore on the state and even then such tall promises are being made. The Congress is the only alternative since we have development strategies on track,” said Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) chief Pratibha Singh.
