BJP candidate from Mandi constituency, Ram Swarup Sharma on Friday made a scathing attack on Virbhadra Singh, six-time Chief Minister, and his wife Pratibha Singh, Congress candidate from Mandi for having done nothing specific for the development of Mandi parliamentary constituency in their successive tenures.
Sharma claimed that two Chief Ministers of BJP Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal are remembered by the people for their spectacular achievements in their tenure as Chief Ministers. Shanta Kumar, he said, solved the drinking water supply problems in the far-flung villages in the difficult and tough terrains. He is still popular for having set up thousands of hand pumps where potable piped supply was not feasible.
Similarly, during his two tenures as Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal harnessed water of small streams and rivulets for hydel power through a network of mini and micro hydro projects and augmented the road network under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana on a war-footing. Sharma, who was addressing a series of public meetings in Tungal Valley, the stronghold of Pt Sukh Ram, former Union Minister and his son Anil Sharma, Minister in Virbhadra Singh Government, said the lust for power in Virbhadra Singh did not allow any leader to become a Chief Minister in Himachal Pradesh. Claiming that Congress was a sinking ship and Narendra Modi was going to become the next Prime Minister, Sharma exhorted the people to get united and vote for the BJP on May 7 and punish those who had done grave injustice to Mandi since Independence.