Shimla/Thunag/Janjheli:
As thousands still remain marooned in Upper Seraj’s flood-battered villages — Baga Chanogi, Shivathana, Deja, Chatri, Chiuni — politics in Himachal has plunged to a new low. The support for the flood victims has poured in from all sides. But Netas are busy in their squabbles.
After the 'Shukla-Sukhu' tussle over appointment of VCs, it it is now Jai Ram-Jagat Singh rift that has been doing the rounds of corridor of power in Himachal these days.
What should have been a united front to help disaster victims has instead turned into a full-blown slugfest between former CM Jai Ram Thakur and Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi.
The people of Upper Seraj and other parts of Himachal — who lost their homes, crops and orchards, cultivable land and access to basic facilities — are staring at a bleak winter with no roof over their heads and no land in sight.
Their cries for help are being drowned in viral video attacks and personal jibes exchanged by Jai Ram and Negi and other leaders.
While Negi was heckled during his recent visit to Thunag, flood victims allege genuine sufferers are being sidelined in both relief and rehabilitation.
No BJP MP — not even Kangana Ranaut, the MP from Mandi — has raised the core issue in Parliament: Where’s the land for the uprooted victims to rebuild their lives?
Much of the vacant land in Himachal is forest-designated, requiring Centre’s permission under the Forest Conservation Act. But no solution or alternative has been proposed so far by the Sukhu government or BJP MPs, MLAs and leaders.
Negi, in his counterattack, demanded that BJP make public the list of flood victims who received help from party’s donation drives, alleging funds were selectively distributed to loyalists in Seraj.
The Horticulture College in Thunag, which has over 300 students, became another flashpoint.
“Instead of building a hostel, Jai Ram Thakur built a palatial 25-room rest house. Now students are forced to live in unsafe rented rooms even after Thunag has faced three floods since 2023,” Negi said.
“Parents are demanding the college be shifted out entirely.”
Negi’s long, chaotic statement — riddled with justifications and confused responses — offered little clarity but exposed administrative disarray.
Villages where pregnant professors had to be carried on palanquins, school buildings turned into stink-filled shelters, and flooded colleges with no water drainage — the state of affairs paints a grim picture of choice of construction and selective relief and preparedness.
Meanwhile, the political atmosphere in Himachal continues to rot as allegations run high and thick.
The Jai Ram vs Jagat Singh clash follows closely on the heels of the recent faceoff between Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla and CM Sukhvinder Sukhu.
The Governor, in his recent press conference at Raj Bhawan, painted a damning picture of the Sukhu government’s failure saying that the CM did not take Jai Ram Thakur along seeking central aid for relief on disaster and the government did not set rehab centre for drug victims.
Yet Sukhu, curiously, remains mum — not a single rebuttal, not even a formal clarification.
What’s worse — while the hill state bleeds, its leaders bicker.
The Governor raises alarms about drugs. People drown in floods. Leaders trade jibes. Victims plead for land. MPs are missing in action in parliament.
All BJP MPs and BJP President Rajiv Bindal chose to meet with the Union ministers JP Nadda and Nitin Gadkari as a BJP group, but HP CM met them alone urging liberal aid of Rs 1000 Crore for Himachal.
In a state known for its 'silence over institutional rot and VIP privilege', this disaster should’ve been a dealt with as a team as regimes come and go.
Instead, it has turned into yet another battleground for scoring points — between Seraj and Kinnaur, between old regimes and new, and between power and people.
As the clouds gather again, one question echoes across Himachal’s hills: When will the mountains listen to its people, not its politics?
#HimachalFloods #DisasterPolitics #NegiVsJaiRam #SukhuSilent
