Hamirpur (HP): Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister and veteran BJP leader Prem Kumar Dhumal said that the development of Himachal Pradesh has been one of the priorities of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he was the party in In-charge of state affairs in 1997-98.
Talking to UNI, Dhumal said Prime Minister’s state visit when the BJP government is completing its four years in the state would help the government and the people of the hilly state to march ahead on the path of development.
He said that the state always developed only when the BJP governments came to power.
Dhumal chided the Congress party that was stating that the visit of PM would not be beneficial for the state. He said that the main aim of the Congress party was to criticize the BJP and its governments for nothing. He said that the tactics, the Congress party was playing at the national/state level would backfire and the BJP would emerge victorious in all the coming elections, whether Vidhan Sabha elections or the Lok Sabha elections.
Whether it is the matter of restoring the special category status of Himachal Pradesh or giving many other big development projects to Himachal Pradesh. The state has always been one of the priorities of Prime Minister Modi. I am sure that with the blessings of Prime Minister, Himachal Pradesh will keep moving fast towards becoming one of the leading states of the country, the BJP leader said.
He said that the commencement of the construction work of the Dhaulasiddh Hydro Electric Project was a matter of happiness for Hamirpur and Kangra districts. On December 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will roll out the construction of the Dhaulasiddh hydroelectric project during his Mandi rally virtually, he said.
He, however, said that the construction work of the Dhaula Sidh Hydroelectric Project should have started in the year 2002 as the work was allotted to a private company under his government at that time. But after the change of power in the state, the allotment of this construction work was cancelled. Then the matter went to arbitration and the construction work kept pending for years.
In the year 2007, BJP again came to power in the state and the BJP government allotted the construction work of the Dhaula Sidh hydroelectric project to SJVNL. At that time, there was a UPA government at the Centre. Whenever the Union Ministers were ready to come to Himachal Pradesh to lay the foundation stone of this project, some Congress leaders of the state, who were holding influential positions at the Center at that time, opposed the project. Because of this, the construction work of this hydroelectric project kept hanging for years. Now, Modi Ji has come, the work has started again, the former state CM said.
Expressing confidence, he said that the construction work of the Dhaula Sidh Hydro Electric Project would be completed in the coming three years.
He said, “Once this project is ready, hydroelectric power generation will start which will help the state a lot. Due to the project, the economic and political power in the state will increase further. Himachal Pradesh’s income will also increase and a new revolution will start.”
“I warmly welcome and express gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his visit to Himachal. As the whole country is progressing under the leadership of Prime Minister, Himachal Pradesh is also progressing on the path of development under his leadership,” he added.
