Unfortunate that CM opposed court orders on PRI polls: Jai Ram Thakur

Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur on Tuesday termed it “unfortunate” that Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had opposed court orders related to the conduct of Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) elections.

Thakur was addressing mediapersons before attending a meeting of the executive committee of the BJP Panchayati Raj cell in Una, where he participated as the chief guest. The meeting was convened to discuss the party’s preparations for the upcoming PRI elections and strategies to ensure the victory of BJP-supported candidates.

He alleged that the state Congress government was deliberately attempting to postpone the PRI elections by citing the Disaster Management Act. “Seven months have passed since the disaster struck the state, yet the government has failed to provide relief to the affected people or repair damaged infrastructure, citing lack of funds,” he said.

The former Chief Minister said elections to PRIs are held every five years and accused the government of adopting delaying tactics. He said that people had approached the High Court on the matter, following which the court directed the state government to complete election preparations by the end of February and hold the polls in April. “The Chief Minister should comply with the court’s directions and ensure that all formalities are completed by February-end and elections conducted by April,” he said.

Thakur alleged that the Chief Minister had shown disrespect by opposing the court orders and said the High Court should take cognisance of the matter and initiate contempt proceedings against him.

Referring to the opposition by the state Congress leadership to the Centre’s ‘Viksit Bharat’ Gram G scheme, Thakur said it was unprecedented for a Chief Minister and Cabinet colleagues to stage protests against the Central government, which, he claimed, went against the principles of federalism. He added that the Centre was only strengthening the MGNREGA scheme and not shutting it down.

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