Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the state government was committed to providing a transparent, responsive, and accountable administration to the people.

He was addressing the ‘Jan Aabhar Rally’ organised at Zorawar Stadium, Dharamshala on Tuesday to express gratitude to the people of the Kangra district for their mandate in favour of Congress Party in the recently held assembly elections.

This was the first visit of Sukhu to the district after becoming the CM.

The CM said that the present state government was here not to enjoy power, but for bringing a change in the system.

Launching a scathing attack on the previous BJP government for opening over 900 institutions in different parts of the state without any budgetary provisions, he said that this was simply done to woo the people with an eye on assembly elections.

The present state government cracked a big paper scam going on throughout the tenure of the BJP government in the Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission, Hamirpur, which had become a den of selling question papers, he alleged.

“Taking a bold decision our government suspended the functioning of the Commission. The present state government will ensure free and fair examinations for different posts,” he said.

Sukhu said his government would implement all the 10 guarantees as promised in the congress manifesto in a phased manner.

“We will implement Old Pension Scheme (OPS) in the first cabinet meeting. Besides, a decision to provide Rs 1,500 to the women in the age group of 18 to 60 years would also be taken soon, he assured.

Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri, while addressing the gathering, took a jibe at BJP leaders and remarked that it seemed that these leaders were finding it difficult to digest defeat and thus were issuing baseless statements.

He said that the people of the state have completely discarded the so-called BJP’s double-engine government.

“Jobs were on sale during the tenure of the previous BJP regime, whereas our state government after coming to power immediately suspended the working of HPSSC,” he added.

He advised the BJP leaders to play the role of a responsible Opposition.

Member of Parliament and State Congress President, Pratibha Singh, thanked the people of the state for their wholehearted support in the assembly elections.

“It was due to the support and love of the people that the Congress party was able to form the government in the state,” she said.

The party organisation and the state government would work with complete unison to ensure that the pace of development gets added vigour so that Himachal can emerge as a model state, she added.

Dharamshala MLA,Sudhir Sharma assured the Chief Minister of full support and cooperation from the entire MLAs of the Kangra district.

Earlier, CM Sukhu was accorded a rousing reception when he reached Dharamshala to preside over ‘Jan Aabhar Rally’.

He was accompanied by state co-incharge of Congress, Tajinder Singh Bittu.

The 2022 assembly election witnessed a similar situation to the 2012 polls, when Congress won 10 out of the 15 seats in the largest district Kangra, which is historically considered to be a decisive region.

The BJP this time got 4 seats and one seat was bagged by an Independent.

In the 2017 assembly elections, BJP won 11 out of 15 seats in Kangra and went on to form the government.