Himachal Pradesh: Jairam Thakur discusses revenue deficit grant with Union FM, says Sukhu's allegations "unjustified"

New Delhi [India], February 24 (ANI): Leader of Opposition in Himachal Pradesh Assembly, Jairam Thakur, on Tuesday met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and discussed the revenue deficit grant (RDG) issue for the state after Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had accused the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Centre of politicising the revenue deficit grant.
Speaking to ANI, BJP MLA Jairam Thakur said that the Centre has not just discontinued the revenue deficit grant for Himachal Pradesh, but for other states as well.
Thakur said, "Today I met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and we had a detailed discussion regarding the economic situation in Himachal Pradesh. We discussed how the Congress government in the state and Congress leaders have been making a hue and cry over the revenue deficit grant. The Chief Minister keeps repeatedly talking about the revenue deficit grant, saying that the Centre has stopped it for Himachal. The Centre has not stopped it just for Himachal but has also discontinued the revenue deficit grant that was being given to other states as well."
Further, he criticised CM Sukhu for meeting the Congress high command to discuss the controversy instead of the Union Finance Minister.
"Today, even though we are not in power, we have placed Himachal's economic crisis before the Finance Minister and requested assistance. The Chief Minister came here and met Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, but he neither met the Finance Minister nor the Prime Minister. The accusations that are being continuously levelled against the Central government and Prime Minister Modi are absolutely unjustified. The BJP has always stood for the interests of Himachal, so making false statements is not right," the BJP leader said.
Earlier today, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu accused the BJP of politicising the revenue deficit grant issue. The Chief Minister said the previous government, led by former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, had received the highest revenue deficit grant.
Despite this, he alleged, the state's debt burden was not reduced. Instead, loans amounting to Rs 47,000 crore were taken, and liabilities worth thousands of crores were left behind.
Sukhu clarified that RDG has neither been accepted nor rejected. "The Finance Commission has only noted it in its report. The Centre can provide RDG depending on the prevailing circumstances," he said.
The Chief Minister said he had held detailed discussions on the matter with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and MP Rahul Gandhi during his recent visit to Delhi. He added that comparing Himachal Pradesh with Kerala on the RDG issue was inappropriate, as RDG is granted under constitutional provisions to compensate for revenue deficits and does not adversely affect Kerala.
Commenting on the possibility of a protest at Jantar Mantar, he described it as part of a political strategy and said a decision would be taken after due deliberation. (ANI)