In a rebuttal, Himachal Pradesh state government has advised the former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur to exercise restrain from issuing baseless and unwarranted statements in a bid to remain in news.

In a statement issued here on Monday, cabinet ministers, Anirudh Singh and  Vikramaditya Singh, have expressed surprise over former chief minister raising the issue of de-notification of the institutions opened by the previous BJP government in the fag-end of its tenure time and again with an eye on the general assembly elections.

They said all these institutions were opened and upgraded with the sole motive to woo voters without any budgetary provision and irrational thinking.

“State government has decided to wind up such institutions and all these would be reviewed and if found to be viable and if required would be opened after making proper budget provisions,” they added.

The ministers said that the present Congress Government has inherited a debt burden of over Rs 75,000 crore due to the financial mismanagement of the previous BJP State Government.

They said that not only this the BJP Government also has left financial liabilities of about Rs 5,000 crore and thus the BJP leaders have no moral right to question the decision of the state government as it was due to the unmindful and unproductive expenditure of the previous state government that the present state government has been forced to take this harsh decision to enhance VAT on diesel in the state.

Anirudh Singh and Vikramaditya Singh said that after crushing defeat in the 2021 Mandi Parliamentary by-election and by-elections to three assembly seats i.e. Arki, Jubbal-Kotkhai and Fatehpur the then State Government reduced VAT on Petrol and diesel by Rs 7 per litre.They said that the BJP Government was forced to take this decision in panic after its 4-0 defeat in these by-elections.

The ministers said that the allegation of the former Chief Minister regarding the appointment of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries was also uncalled for.

They reminded the former Chief Minister about the appointment of a large number of Chairmen and Vice Chairmen in various Boards and Corporations.

“All the dejected and rejected second-line leaders were appointed Chairmen and Vice Chairmen with a sole objective to adjust them by allotting plum postings,”  they said.

Anirudh Singh and Vikramaditya Singh said that the first and the foremost task before the state government headed by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was to bring back the derailed economy on track, create resources of income generation, and cut down unproductive expenditure.

The ministers said that the former chief minister has advised the former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur to restrain from issuing baseless and unwarranted statements in a bid to remain in news. The minister has no right to speak about the internal matters of the Congress Party.

They advised the former Chief Minister to focus on his own party as Congress was a grand old party and know how to function in the larger interest and welfare of the people of the state.