BJP in Himachal Pradesh today expressed "surprise" over Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's claim that the financial condition of the state was sound, and demanded a "white paper" on the issue.
"The claim of the chief minister about sound financial health of the state was not only misleading and false but also a clumsy attempt to divert the attention of the people from the deteriorating financial condition," party spokesman Ganesh Dutt said.
"It is no secret that financial health of the state is very bad and developmental works started during the BJP rule have come to a halt," Dutt said.
It is ironical that the debt liability of Himachal Pradesh has risen to Rs 35,000 crores and the state government has raised loans amounting Rs 2,500 crore during and past 23 months and yet the Chief Minister was claiming that the financial position of the state was fine, he said.
BJP was willing to help the state in getting funds from the Centre for development but this could be possible if Chief Minister initiated talks with BJP leaders, Dutt added.
