Himachal Pradesh News
Jai Ram Thakur blames Congress govt for RDG loss, alleges fiscal mismanagement pushing Himachal Pradesh towards crisis
Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday squarely blamed the Sukhu-led Congress government for the discontinuation of the Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) to Himachal Pradesh, alleging that the state failed to effectively present its case before the 16th Finance Commission.
Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday squarely blamed the Sukhu-led Congress government for the discontinuation of the Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) to Himachal Pradesh, alleging that the state failed to effectively present its case before the 16th Finance Commission.
Addressing a press conference, Thakur said the Congress government was misleading the public by shifting the blame onto the Centre for the loss of the grant. He pointed out that the 15th Finance Commission had already indicated that the RDG would gradually be phased out and it was the responsibility of the current state government to safeguard Himachal’s financial interests.
“The failure to secure the grant reflects poor planning, weak financial understanding and administrative inefficiency,” he said.
Thakur also accused Congress-ruled states, including Karnataka, of opposing the RDG by terming it an “anomaly,” calling it a clear case of the party’s double standards. “Blaming the Centre to hide one’s own shortcomings is untenable,” he remarked.
Citing comparative figures, the former Chief Minister said Himachal received Rs 18,091 crore as RDG during the 10-year tenure of the UPA government (2005–2015), whereas the amount increased significantly to Rs 77,823 crore under the Narendra Modi-led NDA government between 2015 and 2025.
He further alleged that the present Congress regime had crossed all limits of borrowing and pushed the state into mounting debt. According to Thakur, the previous BJP government borrowed Rs 19,600 crore over five years, while the current government’s fiscal decisions have burdened the state with far higher liabilities.
“The government has spent three years blaming the BJP instead of focusing on governance. Today, even paying salaries and pensions has become a challenge,” he claimed.
Thakur urged Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to apologise to the people for what he termed “false election guarantees” that remain unfulfilled. He also questioned the justification of holding MLA priority meetings after the discontinuation of MLA funds, calling the exercise meaningless.
The BJP leader maintained that unless corrective fiscal measures are taken immediately, the state’s financial health could deteriorate further.
