Himachal Pradesh Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday said the BJP has completely rejected the politics of dynasty and family and is a common man’s party while Congress on the other hand was a party of a family and is almost breathing its last.

He made these remarks while kicking off BJP’s election campaign for upcoming assembly elections and launched ‘Chale Booth Ki Ore-Barae Jeet Ki Ore’ by hoisting party flag on the house of Booth President of Jhud village in Thunag area of Seraj assembly segment.

He said that Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal worked tirelessly to strengthen the base of the party in the State. The state today was fortunate to have a son of the soil as national chief of BJP in the form of JP Nadda. It was on this ground that the then national BJP chief and present Home Minister Amit Shah, while campaigning for him, announced that once the BJP comes to power in the state the representative of this area would be given big responsibility.

He also listened to the address of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to commemorate the party’s Foundational Day alongwith the party workers at Thunag.

Thakur stated that it was on this auspicious day that the BJP came into existence at Mumbai with former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee as its first president. In 1975 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency in the country, members of the Jan Sangh held strong protests against the Congress regime.

After the withdrawal of the Emergency, the Jan Sangh collaborated with a number of other parties and formed the Janata Party. While the BJP was formed on April 6, 1980, its ideological origins can be dated back to 1951 when Shyama Prasad Mukherjee formed the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, he added.

Thakur said the BJP was the largest political party in India, both in terms of representation in Parliament and in terms of party membership. The party has come a long way since its origins in the early 1980s and has overcome several obstacles and failures and at present formed a robust footing in the Indian political scenario and significantly overturned the ideological framework that drove India’s national and international policies for a long time.

BJP made a sweeping victory in general elections held in 2014 upholding Narendra Modi’s image as its Prime Ministerial candidate. In 2019 general elections again BJP swept back to power and it won 303 seats in the Lok Sabha, bettering the 282 seats they won in 2014 – a performance that not many thought was possible. In the recently held assembly elections, out of the five states, the BJP emerged victorious in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Manipur, the CM said.

He further stated that various events have been planned by BJP for the entire week starting from 6th April and would conclude with the commemoration of Ambedkar Jayanti on 14th April. He urged the party workers to come forward to ensure door to door campaign to educate the policies and programmes of the state government.

The present state government has increased the daily wages of the daily wagers by Rs 50 per day, which was a record in itself. In addition, the monthly honorarium of Anganwadi workers, Anganwadi Assistant and Asha workers have been increased considerably. The state government has decided that ‘Zero Billing’ for consumption of up to 60 units benefitting about 4.50 lakh consumers and cheaper electricity would also be provided at the subsidized rate of Rs 1 per unit which would benefit over 7 lakh consumers consuming between 61 to 125 units, he added.

He also urged the people to give their wholehearted support to the BJP in the Himachal so that BJP could again form government in the state.