Himachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi on Friday slammed the opposition BJP, saying that the party was guilty for not being able to get the due claim of natural disaster from the Central government.

In a joint statement, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi said here on Friday that the BJP was doing nothing but trying to make political gains on the issue of the disaster that the state witnessed this monsoon season.

Holding the BJP leaders of the state responsible for not getting relief package from the centre, they charged that it was due to them that the centre has withheld the claims sent to the centre as they are not allowing this amount to be released.

“The state government had sent the first claim communication of Rs 6746 crore for the loss due to the disaster to the Central Government on August 10. After that, a revised claim note of Rs 9900 crore has been sent on October 10,” they said.

The Deputy Chief Minister and the Revenue Minister said that 50 per cent of the total claim that is Rs 4950 crore is the right of Himachal Pradesh.

“This amount should be released immediately by the Central Government so that the rehabilitation and reconstruction work of the people can be expedited,” they said, adding that it is unfortunate that till now the Central Government has not given even a single penny of the claim to Himachal.

Three teams from the Center have so far visited the state and returned after assessing the damage caused by floods and heavy rains, they said.

The claim amount is the right of the state, it is available to all the states in case of natural disaster, it cannot be stopped on political grounds, they rued.

They further said that the disaster in Himachal was neither declared a national disaster by the Central Government nor was any special relief package given to the state to recover from this crisis.

“The people of disaster affected Himachal Pradesh are no longer demanding a special relief package, rather Himachal should get Rs 4950 crore which is the right of Himachal Pradesh,” they claimed.

The Deputy Chief Minister and Revenue Minister said that by stopping the natural disaster claims, BJP has revealed its real face to the public.

“The people of the state will leave no stone unturned to teach a lesson to BJP when the time comes. It has become clear from the actions of BJP leaders that they have no sympathy for the disaster affected people, their basic objective is only to do politics,’ they said.

Furthermore, the state government is being repeatedly stopped from collecting water cess from power companies and the Central Government is issuing letters, from which it is clear that BJP leaders are not concerned with the interests of the people of Himachal Pradesh, they charged.