Dec 4 protest in Dharamshala will highlight Congress ‘misrule’: Himachal BJP leader

BJP State General Secretary Sanjeev Katwal, while reviewing preparations at Agarwal Dharamshala in Jawalamukhi, said on the completion of three years of the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will hold a massive protest on December 4 at Joravar Stadium in Dharamshala.

The protest, he said, will highlight the government’s failures, corruption, and what he termed anti-people policies.

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Katwal informed that the demonstration would be led by BJP State In-charge Shrikant Sharma, Co-in-charge Sanjay Tandon, State President Dr. Rajeev Bindal, and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur.

Thousands of BJP workers from across the state are expected to reach Dharamshala in hundreds of vehicles and will lay siege to the Congress government during the ongoing Assembly session, he added.

Describing the incumbent Congress government as the most inefficient and directionless in Himachal’s history, Katwal recalled a statement made by former chief minister Virbhadra Singh warning that if power came into the hands of Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, darkness would descend on the state — a prediction he claimed has now come true.

He alleged gross violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during the Dehra by-election, accusing the government of distributing Rs 50,000 each to women’s self-help groups to ensure the victory of the Chief Minister’s wife. Such actions, he said, were an assault on democratic values.

Katwal further alleged that the Congress government’s liquor policy has completely failed, resulting in a loss of crores to the state exchequer.

He charged that development works worth thousands of crores have come to a halt, pushing the state’s growth into stagnation and leaving the public disillusioned.

He said the state’s debt has now crossed Rs 40,000 crore, effectively making every Himachali a debtor. Despite the cutting of thousands of apple trees, the government, he alleged, failed to strongly raise the concerns of orchardists or safeguard their interests.

Katwal asserted that the BJP will continue to expose what it sees as the failures of the Congress government, and the massive protest in Dharamshala will reflect the rising public anger against the ruling dispensation.