Cong MLA shots off letter to CM Sukhu, questions poll promises

Shimla: After a series of social media posts, targeting the Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on his style of governance, two-time sitting MLA Rajendra Rana has shot off a letter to Chief Minister asking questions on ‘failure” to fulfil key poll promises of the party ,especially one lakh jobs in the first year.

Rana had shot into fame after he defeated former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in Sujanpur constituency in 2017 polls. Dhumal was the party's face for Chief Ministership.

Rana hails from Hamirpur, CM's native district and there is no love lost between the two as many believe their differences may remain a boiling pot.

In his letter, Rana told the Chief Minister that the youth are “eagerly waiting for fulfillment of that promise” as nothing has been done even after 14 months of government formation.

'The Congress had promised to provide employment to one lakh youth every year and the youth of the state are eagerly waiting for fulfillment of that promise,' he said in his two-page letter which he also posted on Facebook on Thursday.

He said, 'We had been raising the voice of the unemployed youth since we were in the opposition and now the youth is waiting for recruitments in government jobs,'

Rana said that lakhs of youths, who had appeared in the examinations, are feeling restless and impatient as the results have been delayed after scrapping of the Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission (HPSSC), which has been replaced by the Himachal Pradesh Rajya Chayan Aayog.

The HPSSC was dissolved in February 2023, two months after the paper leak was unearthed on December 23, 2022, when the vigilance bureau arrested senior assistant of commission Uma Azad with solved question paper and Rs 2.5 lakh in cash.

'We need to understand the sentiments of the people, especially the youth seeking jobs, and are answerable to them, and the entire youth cannot be punished for corruption of few persons,' Rana said in his letter.

Nevertheless he has praised the chief minister for his sensitivity and launching schemes like Sukhashraya aiming to take care, protect and make the orphan children in the state self-reliant.

Rana was a strong aspirant for the ministerial post which Sukhu had not offered to him beside another potential Congress MLA Sudhir Sharma, a former minister.

Meanwhile, CM’s principal Media advisor Naresh Chauhan said the government was working hard for fulfilment of the promises and some of the initiatives already taken have created enough scope for the self-employment opportunities for the youth.

'The Congress government has implemented the main promise of granting OPS to as many as 1.36 lakh employees. We launched Rs. 680 crore Rajiv Gandhi Start-up Yojna for creating self-employment opportunities for the youth. The government has launched Green Budget so that the Himalayan flora and fauna can be preserved further,' he said.