Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday questioned Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s silence on serious corruption allegations surrounding his office and his alleged relations with businessmen under the radar of Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate.

In a statement issued here, Thakur sought Sukhu’s response regarding these allegations, stressing that the people of the state are demanding answers from him on the corruption allegations.

He blamed the state government for having stalled the development works in the state and running the government by taking loans.

“This month again the government has applied for a loan. Sukhu should clarify why it is taking loans despite not a single development work is being done,” he claimed.

Thakur expressed grave concern over the plight of the apple growers in the state with the arrival of the apple season.

He said, “The apple season has started. During the previous BJP government the initiative was taken to sell apples in universal cartons. The Sukhu government made universal cartons mandatory for apple packaging without complete preparation.

“All the apple growers have thousands of telescopic cartons lying with them, which cost lakhs. The government should take back the telescopic cartons from the orchardists by giving them proper compensation so as to provide relief to them.”

He blamed that government for making universal cartons compulsory just ahead of the start of the apple season.

“Some of the orchardists had already made arrangements for telescopic cartons to take their produce to the markets as neither the rules are clear nor the availability of universal cartons,” he alleged, adding that the government should provide high quality universal cartons at a reasonable price.

The attitude of the Congress government towards the apple orchardists has always been dismal, he claimed, adding that in the last season also, the government made rules for purchasing apples on the basis of weight, but failed to even arrange weighing machines to weigh the apples in the mandis (markets).

Taking a dig at the Sukhu government, Thakur said that the government does not talk about the guarantee given to the apple orchardists in the last Assembly elections.

“When is the government fulfilling the guarantee of orchardists to decide the price of their produce themselves?” he questioned.