Congress MLAs attend Himachal Assembly session wearing onion garlands

As soon as the session resumed Tuesday, Congress MLAs objected to the merging of their resolution regarding discussion on the recently-held Global Investors’ Summit being and another resolution by BJP. Speaker Rajeev Bindal said this was done because they were similar and the Opposition would be given full hearing on the same. This was followed by an exchange of charges between the Opposition and ruling party.

Opposition leader Mukesh Agnihotri Agnihotri alleged the investors meet was the “biggest scam in the history” of the state.

At this, the CM rose from his seat and said Congress legislators should not make Himachal Pradesh Assembly like Punjab’s or Bihar’s. Thakur said the BJP government the state spent much lesser on the investors summit last month as compared to what the previous Congress dispensation spent for “digging soil” in the name of setting up industries.

Industries Minister Bikram Singh said less than Rs 24 crore was spent on investors meet organised on Nov 7-8, whereas Rs 58 crore was spent by Congress in Pandoga.

Thakur accused the Congress of disturbing the decorum of the Assembly on a daily basis. “We are not even sure why they walked out today…They could ideally have remained patient and engaged in a healthy discussion over the investors’ meet,” he said. Nurpur MLA Rakesh Pathania said there is no greater platform than the Assembly session for voicing their concerns but Congress chose to remain absent.

Chintpurni MLA Balbir Singh said that the previous government had failed to adequately utilise the industrial package given to the state by the Centre and several prominent companies had backed out of the state after being asked for bribes. “Himachal has a huge potential for the natural farming industry, especially Himalayan herbs. For example in Una, a Harvard-educated agriculturist has started the cultivation of black wheat which has health benefits and sells for Rs 150 per kg,” he remarked.

Several other MLAs said that only a few areas such as Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh (BBN) and Kala Amb had developed as industrial hubs and new industrial areas such as Pandoga had failed to take off.

Industries Minister Bikram Singh said that more than 700 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to the tune of Rs 9,600 crore had been signed during the investors’ meet, which were projected to create around two lakh jobs in the future. He read out a letter from the UAE ambassador praising Himachal Pradesh for “facilitating foreign investment”. He said that delegates from 36 countries and ambassadors from ten nations had attended the meet.

Lone CPI(M) MLA Rakesh Singh cautioned the House against the motives of private industrialists. “They will only come here for their own profit. We must raise the purchasing power of our people to create a higher demand for private investment,” he said. The CM replied that other states were surging ahead in establishing industry and Himachal must not lag behind.