New Delhi, Feb 29: Alleging discrimination at the hands of the Centre in the matter of development funds, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said the 'feel good' factor of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would receive a severe beating at the hands of the electorate in the state. ''In Himachal, 92 per cent of the population is rural and has not benefited by any single policy of the central government,'' Singh told reporters here.
Alleging that the NDA government at the Centre was functioning in a partisan manner, the Chief Minister said it was giving stepmotherly treatment to his state.
''The Centre is not releasing the due share of the state in various Central government schemes and projects and is raising unnecessary queries leading to redtapism which has delayed the implementation of Central schemes,'' he said. Singh said that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee called himself a ''Himachali'', but it was saddening that he had done nothing for the cause of the common man in the state. ''I have respect for Vajpayee as the Prime Minister parliamentarian and politician, but his contribution to the development of Himachal is not significant,'' he said.
Singh said that the BJP being the main opposition in the state, was a divided house and the Congress would sweep all the seats in the state in the coming elections.
Bureau Report