On the conclusion of the State-level media workshop here, former Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Monday exhorted over 130 media in-charge from Mandal to State level, to be prepared for the 2014 general elections.
“In a democratic setup, Press was the fourth pillar of democracy as it played a vital role in disseminating news, views and comments for keeping the general public well informed with the achievements or failures of the elected government,” Dhumal told the BJP office-bearers in-charge of media at various levels.
He said he had advised the media in charge of the BJP to make optimum use of the Press in exposing scams, injustice, corruption, inflation, extravagance by government, unemployment and generation of black money by those in power. He asked them to divulge the shortcomings and failures of the Virbhadra Singh Government and bring to light the fact that all the development activities had come to a virtual halt ever since it came to power.
Dhumal dismissed the “false and misleading claim” of Punjab and Haryana Governments claiming that
Rs1,650 crore were payable to them as so-called power arrears. Decrying the evasive attitude of the two governments towards implementation of the judgment of the Supreme Court in favour of Himachal Pradesh as its share of 7.19 per cent in all the projects of BBMB, he added that the false and fabricated claims were merely delaying tactics to implement the judgment of the apex court. The BJP leader said gross injustice had been done to Himachal Pradesh on the land of which all these projects were conceived, designed and executed in the territory of the State. He said Himachal was not made the beneficiary State in these projects.
"These projects were made with the loans and grants of the central government. Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan were made the beneficiary states. Himachal was union territory at that time and its interests were not safeguarded by the central government. Our people were rendered land less, homeless and many of them had not been rehabilitated during the past over 60 years," he alleged.
Dhumal said Himachal at long last got justice from the Supreme Court, but Punjab and Haryana Governments were acting as stumbling blocks in the way of the implementation of the order of the apex Court. The former chief minister said BJP was planning to lead an all-party delegation to the central government calling upon it to get the order of the apex court implemented without further delay.
"Past experience had been bitter with Congress which walked out when a resolution was moved in the Vidhan Sabha for taking a joint delegation to Prime Minister and other central leaders for the revival of the special industrial package granted to Himachal by the former Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and withdrawn by the UPA Government mid-way. All these facts should be brought to the notice of the people by the media in charge to acquaint them that Congress was anti- People and anti-Himachal and should be weeded out from the sacred land of the hilly state," he added. Brushing aside false charge of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh that BJP had incurred huge loans, Dhumal said Congress had taken a loan of Rs8,272 crore during its tenure while the BJP took a loan of only Rs5,670 crore during its stint.