Shimla, Aug 21: State government employees, a major vote bank in Himachal politics, have once again become the rallying point for the Opposition BJP.
Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday charged that the Sukhu government has completely failed to honour its commitment to employees and pensioners by not releasing dearness allowance (DA) arrears worth a whopping ₹2,000 crore pending for the last two years.
With CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu refusing to give a “satisfactory reply” in the Vidhan Sabha and Speaker not allowing supplementary questions, the BJP staged a walkout, accusing the government of betraying employees.
“It was a fit case of privilege motion against the government,” Thakur told reporters outside the House.
Thakur reminded that the CM himself had assured employees about the DA release, but months have rolled by—May, July, and now August—without any instalment being paid.
“Employees are tired of raising the same demand again and again. DA arrears have piled up to over ₹2,000 crore, yet the government continues to drag its feet,” he said, adding that the BJP has now taken a firm decision to corner the government on the issue.
The LoP also accused the Chief Minister of dodging accountability by giving “political answers to financial questions.”
Thakur argued that the state’s fiscal condition is unlikely to improve under Sukhu’s watch, and that employees cannot be made to suffer endlessly.
“When Virbhadra Singh left, arrears were there, and when BJP left, arrears were there too. But instead of resolving them, this government is simply passing the buck,” he said.
The walkout is being seen as BJP’s calculated move to project itself as the voice of employees and pensioners, a constituency that can swing electoral fortunes in the hill state.
With DA arrears snowballing and the government on the back foot, the Opposition seems determined to cash in on the growing resentment of employees.
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