Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur sought an apology from the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh for making the false allegation of lack of Central assistance to the state.

Speaking to media persons in Mandi on Sunday, Thakur said that the Centre released an advance state tax share of Rs 1,479 for the state government.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu should at least express gratitude to the Central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.

“Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Central government is helping Himachal in every way. Despite this, the chief minister, his ministers, and the leaders of Congress are not refraining from openly cursing the Central government and the Central leadership,” he said.

“The Himachal government failed to pay salaries and pensions on time twice. A similar situation would have arisen for the third time if the Centre had not made an advance payment of Rs 1,479 crore of state tax share for Himachal Pradesh, due to which the chief minister is in a position to say that he could pay advance salaries to the employees in the state before Diwali,” he claimed.

Thakur said the Congress, ever since assuming power, has been misleading the public.

“It would be appropriate to call this government a government of lies instead of the government of Congress or CM Sukhu. The Sukhu Government wants to blame the Center for its every failure. Every day it accuses the Central government of not cooperating. It accuses BJP leaders of stopping Himachal’s funds whereas the truth is that the leaders of the BJP have always requested the Centre to provide maximum assistance to Himachal Pradesh,” he claimed.

“Our party state leaders have been pushing for providing maximum support to Himachal citing the geographical challenges of the state and the state has benefitted from the requests. Whether it is the fund received under CIRF or the fund received under NDRF, there has never been any kind of discrimination with Himachal Pradesh,” he asserted.

“BJP leaders have been raising their voices in the interest of Himachal. Our party’s national president and Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda is always ready for the interests of Himachal. He has made a huge contribution to the health infrastructure of the state,” he claimed, adding that there has been no mention of it by CM Sukhu.

Blaming Congress for trying to tarnish the image of Himachal in the entire country, he said, “Himachal, known for its hard-working, peace-loving and development-oriented people, will never forgive the Congress party and the chief minister for damaging the image of the state through financial mismanagement and imposition of taxes burdening the people of the state.”

The people of Haryana have already given a befitting reply to every lie and false guarantee given by Congress to form the government in the Himachal assembly elections, he claimed, adding that the people of Himachal will give such a similar reply to Congress in the next elections.