Himachal: Dhumal takes exception to Cong charge against BJP, Centre
Former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Wednesday broke his silence on the Congress charge against the BJP and Centre about its “anti- Himachal” mentality and asked the party leadership to understand and study historical realities before levelling such charges against the Centre.
Former Chief Minister he was surprised to read the statement given by the Congress leaders. It appears they never understood the historical perspective that is why such statements were being made contrary to the facts.
“To make the people of the country aware of the facts, it is necessary that the entire matter be brought before the people in detail”, he said.
He reminded that Punjab was carved out of Himachal on November 1, 1966. So was the new state of Haryana. The hilly region was merged into Himachal. Under the Punjab Reorganisation Act 1966, a Law passed in the Parliament, the state received assets and liabilities equal to the population that went to the state on the basis of reorganisation.
“At that time, Congress was in power in the country and all the three states, but sadly, when Bhakra Dam and other projects were being distributed, the Chief Minister or ministers of Himachal government did not attend any meeting, as a result Himachal’s claim remained weak.”
Dhumal said that the Bharatiya Janata Party itself raised the question of royalty and Himachal’s share in power projects. Regarding their demands, Adhikar Yatra was taken out from Himachal to Delhi in which representatives from Panchayat Samiti to Parliament participated. “Former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar was the leader of the Legislative party. Adhikar Yatra was organised under his leadership. I was the state president of the party at that time.”
“In Delhi we staged a dharna with our demands and our national leaders respected Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani, Krishna Lal Sharma etc. also participated in the dharna, addressed us and BJP fully supported our demands at the national level”, he said.
