3 min readShimlaUpdated: Mar 18, 2026 09:29 AM IST
Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur on Tuesday indicated that the Opposition BJP were preparing to corner the Congress government during the second phase of the Budget Session of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly beginning Wednesday.
“The upcoming Budget Session will be extremely challenging for the government, as the Opposition has submitted rule-bound notices on stalled development works, poor law and order and other public issues. Providing satisfactory responses to these queries will prove to be an arduous task for the government,” the former chief minister said.
Launching a scathing attack on the Chief Minister Sikhvinder Singh Sukhu government, Thakur alleged, “An atmosphere of distrust has developed across Himachal Pradesh against the ruling dispensation and the chief minister.”
Addressing mediapersons at his office on the Assembly complex, Thakur raised serious concerns over alleged corruption, deteriorating law and order, and the worsening financial condition of the state.
Thakur alleged that the chief minister has been “misleading the House with false statements,” calling it a pattern of governance that warrants investigation as a possible breach of privilege.
He also accused the government of “deviating from established parliamentary traditions”, claiming, “For the first time in the state’s history, discussions on the Governor’s address were deliberately delayed, reflecting confusion and lack of direction within the government.”
Thakur alleged that a large syndicate is currently active, engaging in extortion by misleading people under the guise of Section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, which deals with the transfer of agricultural land to non-agriculturists, and claimed that this illicit activity is driving a continuous exodus of industries from the state.
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“Even after three and a half years, the trend of shutting down institutions established in the public interest has yet to cease,” he said.
Taking the government to task over the issue of corruption, he raised strong objections to the decision to exempt the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Vigilance Department from the purview of the Right to Information Act. “What exactly constitutes “confidential information” that the government seeks to conceal from the public,” he questioned.
“The RTI Act, which was introduced during the Manmohan Singh government’s tenure to ensure transparent governance, is now being brazenly flouted and weaponised for political ends by the current chief minister,” he alleged.
