Shimla: The severe rain induced calamity in Himachal Pradesh has sparked a political spat in the state, with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu accusing the four Lok Sabha MPs from the state — including his own party’s Pratibha Singh — of failing to raise the issue with the central government and demanding that it be declared a national calamity.
In response, Pratibha Singh, who is the wife of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh and represents the Mandi constituency in Lok Sabha, asked the CM in a statement to allocate more funds for the restoration of roads and infrastructure in her area, which has been severely affected by floods and landslides in this year’s severe monsoon.
Himachal Pradesh has four Lok Sabha seats and three Rajya Sabha seats. The BJP has three Lok Sabha MPs from the state — Anurag Thakur, who is also a Union minister, Suresh Kashyap from Shimla, and Kishan Kapoor from Kangra. The Congress has only one Lok Sabha MP — Pratibha Singh from Mandi. The BJP also has all three Rajya Sabha MPs from Himachal — J.P. Nadda, who is the party’s national president, Indu Goswami, who is the general secretary of the women’s wing, and Sikander Kumar.
Sukhu, while addressing the media Friday, said, “Have all the four [Lok Sabha] MPs elected by people of the state met the Prime Minister or home minister to declare it as a national disaster? At least Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and J.P. Nadda called me up and enquired about the situation in the state.”
He also asked if any of the MPs had raised questions about the calamity in Himachal during the monsoon session of Parliament, adding that people of the state would question the silence of the elected MPs.
Though the CM has accused the MPs of maintaining silence, Anurag Thakur told the media on 15 August in Delhi that the central government is providing every possible help to the state. “I appeal to everyone to come together in this difficult time and try our best. Let’s not politicise it.”
In a media interaction on 15 August in Shimla, Pratibha Singh too had said that the “PM should immediately declare it as a national calamity”.
Himachal Pradesh government declared the state a natural calamity-affected area Friday. According to principal secretary (Revenue) Onkar Sharma, the state has lost 335 people this monsoon, while 2,000 pucca and kachha houses have been damaged completely and around 10,000 of them have been damaged partially.
‘Provide additional funds’
Soon after Sukhu’s statement, Pratibha Singh also issued a statement demanding that the CM provide additional funds for the central zone of the Public Works Department (PWD), which covers her constituency Mandi. The PWD portfolio is held by her son and two-time MLA Vikramaditya Singh.
“The National Highway Authority should also be asked to press in more machinery to restore the National Highway between Mandi, Kullu, Manali, and Lahaul-Spiti,” said Singh in the press statement.
She added that there has been a huge loss of life and property due to heavy rains and floods in the state.
“The restoration of roads in apple [orchard]-dominated areas is the biggest challenge that has to be overcome in time,” she said, adding, “If the Mandi-Kullu road is not restored soon, it may adversely affect the transportation of apples and vegetables along with acute shortage of essential commodities like LPG, petrol, diesel, and food grains in this area.”
Pratibha Singh had also met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge last month and complained about the lack of coordination between the Congress party and the government in Himachal Pradesh. She had also expressed displeasure over the delay in appointments in government boards and corporations besides the expansion of the cabinet.
Meanwhile, after Pratibha’s meeting with Kharge, Sukhu in the first week of August also reportedly met Kharge and senior Congress leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)