BJP spent Rs 6.93 cr on Amrit Mahotsav programs but didn't invite freedom fighters' families: HP CM
Shimla (PTI): Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Saturday said the BJP government spent Rs 6.93 crore on Amrit Mahotsav' programmes but did not invite families of freedom fighters to official functions.
Replying to a question from part member Sanjay Rattan in Vidhan Sabha, Sukhu said Amrit Mahotsav was a programme of the central government but the money was spent from the state budget
The programmes should have been dedicated to freedom fighters and martyrs who fought for freedom, he said, adding that the importance of these programmes would have increased if families of freedom fighters were also invited and honoured
Such functions should not have been politicised. Rattan who is from the family of freedom fighters was also not invited to function in his constituency, Sukhu said.
The government should not stop such programmes but ensure that families of our freedom fighters are invited.
Leader of the opposition, Jai Ram Thakur said Amrit Mahotsav programmes were organised across the country and Himachal also conducted programmes and spent money but the government is making it an issue.
He said not inviting Rattan's family could have been an error which should be corrected and asked whether the government would implement any scheme or programme brought by the Centre.
Thakur also urged the state government to restore the rescinded "Loktantra Prahari Samman Yojana"- providing for a monthly pension of Rs 11,000 per month to persons, who were jailed during the emergency.
The scheme was started during the tenure of the previous BJP government.
Rattan said the BJP celebrated Amrit Mahotsav keeping in view the elections and misused the government money and also claimed that he was not invited to the programmes held in his constituency.
"It would have been more appropriate if the money was spent on raising memorials in the honour of freedom fighters", he added.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
