Praising rival,bashing Centre,Dhumal eyes third term as CM

Probed more about his one-on-one equation with the tallest Congress leader in the state,Dhumal said that he had always shared a “cordial” relationship with Virbhadra,which only “became a bit charged up whenever we came face to face in the Assembly”.

Dhumal,who is eying a third term as the state’s chief minister,is visibly annoyed with the speeches made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA president Sonia Gandhi during their poll rallies in the state.

“I did not expect this from the Prime Minister. He claimed that the Centre gave Rs 482 crore to Himachal Pradesh under the NRHM and the money was not fully utilised. In reality,we spent Rs 486 crore under NRHM — Rs 4 crore more from the state government funds. I am writing to the PM to clarify this. Sonia Gandhi said that the Centre had given Himachal Rs 10,000 crore of central funds. We didn’t get Rs 10 from them,” he said.

This is the topic that provides Dhumal a window to invoke the name of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. “Vajpayeeji always provided us funds without us even asking. He has done a lot for the welfare of Himachal Pradesh. The fact that we have named so many of our people-centric schemes after him is our way of showing our respect and gratitude to Atalji,” he said. Atal Swasthya Yojana,Atal School Uniform Scheme,Atal Bijli Bachat Yojana,Atal Adarsh Gram Panchayat Puraskar Yojana and Atal Chhatravriti Yojana are the major schemes named after the former PM.

Wherever he has gone to campaign,Dhumal has carried a lot of ammo for Centre-bashing and highlighting the “step-motherly” treatment meted out to BJP-ruled Himachal Pradesh by the Congress-led UPA government.

“Vajpayeeji gave us an industrial package that would have ended in 2013. The Centre cut it short in 2010. Our quotas of rice and kerosene were cut. The Rs 4,250-crore worth of arrears Himachal Pradesh is supposed to get from the Bhakra Beas Management Board has also been stalled by the Centre,” Dhumal said.

Another example Dhumal uses to highlight the Centre’s alleged bias towards his state is that of the “reduction in recruitment from Himachal in Army and central paramilitary forces”. “We demanded the setting up of a Himachal regiment in the Army. We were told that such regiments cannot be formed using names of states. How do we have a Punjab Regiment or an Assam Regiment then? Those who can’t fight,have their own regiments. And brave Himachalis have been denied their very own regiment in the Army,” Dhumal said.

Ask him about the electoral prospects of the newly-formed Himachal Lokhit Party,floated by former BJP MP Maheshwar Singh,and Dhumal’s reply is short and straight: “HLP will do in Himachal what Manpreet Badal’s PPP did in Punjab. It will cut into the Congress votes. I don’t see a threat from it.”