BJP chief Amit Shah today lashed out at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, accusing them of shielding the corrupt in the state and perpetuating "mafia raj".
During the last five years, development has come to a halt and people have been forced to live under the shadow of terror due to various mafias "flourishing" under the patronage of the Congress party and its leaders, he told election rallies at Thunag in Seraj constituency in Mandi district and Hamirpur.
"The Congress did nothing for the country under four generations of dynastic rule of the Gandhi-Nehru family and today Rahul baba is asking for accountability from the Modi government, Shah said.
Whatever the BJP has done was beyond the capacity of the Congress and that was why Gandhi was making false allegations against the central government, he said, adding that the Congress vice president and the chief minister were shielding the corrupt in the state and perpetuating "mafia raj".
Polling for the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly will take place on November nine and counting of votes will be held on December 18.
Shah said there was "phenomenal" and "amazing" rise in the assets of the chief minister's son Vikramaditya Singh from from Rs 1.79 crore to Rs 84 crore during the Congress rule in the last five years and now it was for Gandhi to ask from Singh how he got the money.
He said that the Congress government failed miserably on the law and order front and the situation was so grim that even senior police officers were in jail in connection with the custodial death of a man in infamous Gudiya rape and murder case in Kotkhai in upper Himachal Pradesh.
This incident has shamed the state government and the people would not forgive the Congress for such heinous act, he said.
Alleging slow pace and tardy implementation of developmental projects, the BJP chief said the state government had failed to prepare detailed project reports for 71 national highways sanctioned by the Union government.
Early completion of the exercise would have brought in investment worth crore of rupees, besides improving connectivity in the hill state, he said.
"How can the Congress government boast of development when mega projects are lying unimplemented due to laxity on the part of the government," he questioned.
He asked the people in Himachal Pradesh to elect a BJP government to change the fortunes and get rid of the Congress "misrule".
Shah said that his party has reposed faith in the leadership of Prem Kumar Dhumal and expressed confidence that the state would witness speedy development from his able guidance and rich experience.
Dhumal, a former chief minister of the state, was one of the most prominent leaders of the party and that was why he had been once again given the opportunity to lead the BJP in the polls, he said.
"I am for winning three-fourth of the seats so that there is no impediment in development and smooth running of the government," he said.
He said unprecedented development has taken place in the country in the last three years which no government could match.
Shah has already addressed six meetings in the poll-bound state and would hold four more rallies in the coming days.
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