himachal-bjp-delegation-meets-chief-electoral-officer-complains-of-model-code-of-conduct-violations

Himachal Pradesh BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur met the state chief electoral officer along with other party MLAs on Tuesday and urged him to take cognisance of a complaint about alleged violation of the model code of conduct by the Congress government and initiate appropriate action.

Lashing out at Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, he alleged that the Congress made \"false promises to befool women\".

Thakur, who is the leader of opposition in the state assembly, said that no provision has been made in the budget for giving Rs 1500 per month to women in the age group of 18 to 59 but still the CM announced at a press conference that the eligible women would start getting Rs 1500 per month from April, knowing well that code of conduct would come into force and even the first instalment would not be disbursed.

Distributing forms with photographs of former prime minister Indira Gandhi and Sukhu for applying for pension is a blatant violation of the election code of conduct, Thakur told reporters.

He claimed the Congress was repeating the strategy it used in the run-up to Assembly elections in 2022 when women were made to fill forms for getting a pension of Rs 1500 per month, but the party did not implement the poll promise after winning the election.

\"Who stopped the government from paying Rs 1500 per month to women and why did the government announce the implementation of the poll promise on the eve of Lok Sabha polls, without making any budgetary provision,\" Thakur said.

The Congress party never mentioned in its manifesto that the eligibility criteria would be subject to several conditions and a huge majority of women would be deprived of the benefit, he claimed.

The BJP delegation also claimed that hoardings with pictures of the chief minister and the schemes of the government were still up but hoardings of Lord Rama, which had nothing to do with any party, had been removed.

Thakur said that the Sukhu government has lost majority in the House.

Replying to a question, he said that the BJP has already decided its candidates for the Shimla (SC) and Hamirpur seats and the names for the two remaining seats would be announced soon.

He added that chances of fielding sitting MLAs by BJP or the Congress are bleak as the political situation in the state is very fluid.