Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly and former CM Jai Ram Thakur, on Friday accused the ruling Congress of winning the Dehra bypoll unfairly by misusing government machinery and distributing money during the code of conduct.
Speaking to mediapersons in Mandi, Thakur said the Congress, which has been running a nationwide “vote chor” campaign, had itself adopted dishonest means to secure victory in the 2024 Dehra by-election. He alleged that lakhs of rupees were given to mahila mandals through the Kangra Cooperative Bank while the code of conduct was in place.
Earlier, BJP leaders had claimed that funds were allocated to 67 mahila mandals through the Kangra Cooperative Bank, and a three-month instalment was deposited in the accounts of around 1,000 women in Dehra under the ‘Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojana’.
Calling it the first such case in Himachal where the electoral process was directly influenced using a government scheme, Thakur said this showed the Congress has no respect for democratic values and is the real “vote chor”.
Congress candidate Kamlesh Thakur, wife of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, had won the Dehra seat by defeating BJP’s Hoshiyar Singh by 9,399 votes.
Thakur said Hoshiyar Singh has obtained crucial information through RTI and will soon move the Himachal Pradesh High Court to challenge the election result.
He also pointed out that when the issue was raised in the Vidhan Sabha earlier, no reply was given by the government. Hoshiyar Singh, who lost the seat, has confirmed that he will file a petition in the High Court against the by-election result.
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