Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday said solving Dehra’s problems is now his responsibility.

Campaigning in the Dehra Assembly constituency for the Congress candidate and his wife Kamlesh Thakur, Sukhu said, “It is now my responsibility to solve the problems of Dehra, however since Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in force, I will not make any announcement right now, however, all the problems of Dehra will be solved in the coming time.”

He accused the BJP of resorting to different kinds of statements every day, to distract the public and to mask the blame of the by-election imposed on the people of the state by them.

“Independent MLAs and six rebel Congress MLAs conspired with the BJP to topple the elected Congress government. Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur and other BJP leaders kept claiming that the BJP government will be formed in Himachal Pradesh on June 4, but in the last by-elections, the people of the state have taught them a tough lesson to the sold-out MLAs. However, the number of Congress MLAs in the Assembly has now increased from 34 to 38,” he said.

The chief minister claimed that no independent MLA relinquishes his post for no reason.

“Hoshyar Singh resigned from his post due to the arrogance of money power. The pressure was put on him to get his resignation accepted to receive the second installment under a secret deal. For the first time in the history of India, an independent MLA sat on a dharna to get his resignation accepted and also knocked on the door of the high court,” he alleged.

“After resigning as an independent MLA, he is now coming to seek votes to become MLA again for three and a half years,” he said, adding that he has no concern for the sentiments of the people of Dehra. The honest workers of BJP are annoyed with the ticket being allotted to him,” he claimed.

“The people of Dehra will never compromise with their self-respect and will teach a lesson to those who sell themselves in the political market,” he claimed.

The chief minister said the state government provided funds to complete the new bus stand in Haripur and accelerated other development projects to solve other problems of the area.

Denying the accusations of Hoshyar Singh that the development works were stalled by the state government in his constituency, he said had it been so, he could have supported the Opposition instead of resigning in 14 months and forcing by-elections on the people of the Assembly constituency just to be elected as MLA again.

The chief minister said 1046 women of the Dehra Assembly constituency have also received the third instalment of financial assistance of Rs 1500 under Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi.

The chief minister assured that the state government would leave no stone unturned in the development of Dehra.

He said an international-level zoo is being built at Bankhandi in Dehra at a cost of Rs 650 crore, which will provide employment opportunities to two thousand local people.