Won’t be cowed by police: Kuldeep Rathore

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 14

Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Kuldeep Rathore today said that the Opposition could not be cowed by the police action and they would continue to raise issues concerning people.

CM misleading people

The Congress has never opposed the return of Himachalis. In fact, we have always asked the government to facilitate the return of people belonging to the state from other states. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur is trying to mislead people on the issue. — Kuldeep Rathore, HPCC President

He condemned the registration of police cases against him and other Congress leaders for their protest outside the Secretariat yesterday.

He said while addressing mediapersons here that he and the Congress workers would continue to protest against any government decision that was anti-people and not in the interest of the state. “We will continue to raise our voice even if the police put us behind bars as the voice of the Opposition cannot be crushed in a democracy,” he added.

Rathore said that the Congress had never opposed the return of Himachalis. “In fact, we have always asked the government to facilitate the return of people belonging to Himachal from other states. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur is only trying to mislead people on the issue,” he added.

He said the Chief Minister should refrain from making comments on the internal matters of the Congress and instead concentrate on getting his own house in order.

The Congress chief said that had there been strict enforcement of the guidelines at the inter-state borders, there wouldn’t have been a huge spike in Covid cases. He added that there was need for an effective mechanism to check the entry of people, who were trying to enter the state on forged documents.

“The CM should not implement the orders issued by the Centre in totality but instead should use his own logic that suits the state and its people,” he said.

Rathore said that those who were being home quarantined should have been sent to institutional quarantine, as only then the Covid spread could be checked.