Event a political gimmick: Cong

Our Correspondent

UNA, OCTOBER 29

Mukesh Agnihotri, Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, today alleged that the investors meet of the state government proposed to be held at Dharamsala was a political gimmick, on which huge public funds and resources would be spent without any positive results.

In a press note released here, Agnihotri said that the Jai Ram Thakur government claimed to have already signed memorandums of understanding (MoU) with investors who would be attending the meeting. “When the MoUs have already been signed, where is the need for the investors meet,” he said, adding that by now, the government should have facilitated setting up of units for which the memorandums were signed.

The Congress leader said that the BJP just wanted to derive political mileage from the meet where the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister had been invited. The stated objective of the meet was to address the issues of unemployment and attracting investment to better the ailing financial health of the state but it would end up being a political event organised at the cost of the exchequer, he added.

Agnihotri said that during the last one and a half years of the BJP government, ministers and bureaucrats had been making a lot of noise regarding roping in investments. They had been touring all over the country, but nothing substantial had happened on the ground yet, he added.

He said that addressing the issues of unemployment and improving the economy were not on the agenda of the government and the Chief Minister was not serious in this regard.

Agnihotri said that the hidden agenda of the government became visible when it tried to sell heritage property and Ayurvedic institutions in the name of boosting tourism.

He said that Himachal Pradesh would not be allowed to be sold through the back door in the name of inviting investments in housing, hotels and restaurants, besides health tourism. He added that the government had been suppressing the middle and lower income classes and the recent example was that of raising taxes on petrol and diesel.

BJP wants to derive political mileage: Agnihotri

The BJP just wants to derive political mileage from the investors meet where the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister have been invited. The stated objective of the meet is to address the issues of unemployment and attracting investment to better the ailing financial health of the state but it will end up being a political event organized at the cost of the exchequer. Mukesh Agnihotri, Leader of the Opposition