Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators staged a walkout from the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly after expressing dissatisfaction with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s reply to the budget estimates during the ongoing session.
During the protest, opposition MLAs raised slogans accusing the state government of making false statements, levelling baseless allegations, and misleading the House. Following the walkout, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur launched a sharp attack on the government while speaking to the media.
Jai Ram Thakur alleged that the Chief Minister was making “irrational and factless” allegations against the previous BJP government to hide the failures of the current administration. He said that despite completing three years in office and presenting four budgets, the government had failed to highlight any major achievements of its own and was instead questioning the policies and accomplishments of the former government.
He further claimed that the popular Himcare Scheme, introduced during the BJP regime, continues to receive appreciation from the public, which, according to him, has become a point of discomfort for the present government.
The Leader of Opposition also accused the Chief Minister of attempting to pressure BJP leaders through vigilance inquiries and alleged that steps such as keeping certain matters outside the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act were part of a larger political strategy. He said the government was engaged in blame politics instead of addressing public issues.
Questioning the Chief Minister’s statements, Thakur said that while the government claims treatment will be provided in government hospitals, it simultaneously talks about an alleged ₹100-crore scam in a medical college. He added that if any irregularity has occurred, the government should conduct a proper investigation and take action against those responsible rather than making unsupported allegations.
He further alleged that due to a lack of achievements, the government was wasting valuable time of the Assembly through unjustified accusations. Thakur claimed that he possessed a long list of alleged irregularities of the current government and asserted that the administration had lost the trust of its own legislators, senior leaders, and the public, adding that the truth would soon come to light.
