Former chief minister and Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur fired a volley of questions at Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu as he holds the BJP responsible for by-polls in Himachal Pradesh.

Addressing a public meeting in support of BJP candidate Hoshyar Singh for the Dehra assembly by-poll, Thakur sought to scrutinise the actions and decisions of Sukhu. “Instead of asking us, the chief minister should explain why these by-elections are being held. Why did he create such circumstances that his own party legislatures were forced to revolt? Why did he do injustice with the independent MLAs, and why were their family members, colleagues, friends, and relatives harassed by misuse of power,” he asked.

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He further asked why the Congress government had put the public welfare works of the independent MLAs on hold.

“The by-elections in the three Assembly constituencies being held in the state are the result of the chief minister’s dictatorship, due to which all the three independent MLAs resigned from the State Assembly membership,” he alleged, claiming that the Chief Minister wanted unconditional support of the independent MLAs.

“The independent MLAs have been supporting the Congress government, but when the Congress gave Rajya Sabha ticket to an outsider who fought a case against the Ram Mandir (Ayodhya), they supported BJP candidate Harsh Majahan who belongs to Himachal Pradesh. Since then the independent MLAs have been the victims of the Chief Minister’s wrath,” he charged.

The independent MLAs are elected representatives accountable to the people who elected them and not to the agenda of the ruling party, said Thakur.

Not only the independent legislators but also their family members were also harassed by slapping false cases, he charged, pointing out that MLAs had no option left but to resign.

The people of Dehra are with the son of the soil Hoshyar Singh, who is working tirelessly for the development of Dehra and he will break his old record of victory, claimed Thakur.

“During the previous BJP government when I was the chief minister, Hoshyar Singh asked for the construction of bridge Nandanala, which was approved and our government also released Rs 11 crore for the construction of the same. The bridge would provide relief to more than 25,000 people, however after Hoshyar Singh resigned the Congress government stalled the construction work. Chief Minister fears that the credit will go to Hoshyar Singh,” he charged.

The Congress party ignored the local senior leader who expressed the desire to contest the elections from Dehra, he said, accusing the Chief Minister of forcing him to agree to his wish.