Shimla, Dec 23 (PTI) Congress Himachal Pradesh unit chief Pratibha Singh on Friday threw her weight behind the state government's decision to review and de-notify some offices, ostensibly opened by the previous BJP dispensation with an eye on the assembly elections and without any budget provision.

Soon after the announcement by the new government to close all such non-functional offices and institutions without any budgetary provision and adequate staff and infrastructure, former chief minister Jai Ram Thakur assailed the move as "Tughlaqi farman" (diktat) and dubbed it "unfortunate and unjustified".

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The BJP will not accept such anti-people moves and hit the streets to oppose and will also move the court, if needed, Thakur said.

Singh, lending her support to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, also termed the BJP's protest against the move "a political stunt".

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In a statement issued here, Singh said the Congress would fulfil its poll promises and there was no need for the BJP to worry about it.

She added that people were facing hardships due to increasing unemployment and inflation and blamed the decisions of the BJP-led Centre for the situation.

Naresh Chauhan, media adviser to the chief minister, told reporters that the previous BJP government had opened about 900 institutions in the past six months without any budget provision and infrastructure and in violation of the rules.

He alleged that it was an attempt to put a burden of Rs 2,000 crore on the new government. The decisions were taken by ignoring the finance department's note.

The previous BJP government announced the projects with an eye on vote banks, Chauhan said and challenged Thakur to come out with their budget allocation details.

Projects will be opened on merit wherever there is a need, he said.

"We had given six months to the (previous) Jai Ram Thakur government to settle (before raising any opposition) but the frustrated BJP leaders have started opposing the (new) government's decisions from the first week.

"It is our responsibility to re-do all the wrong decisions," he added.

Asserting that all guarantees provided by the Congress would be fulfilled, Chauhan said the state government was even doing what was not promised, citing the decision to introduce electric buses to protect the environment and reduce fuel expense.

The Old Pension Scheme will also be implemented in principle. The finance department is already on the job to get the terms and conditions ready and a decision on it will come in the first Cabinet meeting, Chauhan added.

Sukhu will also meet representatives and delegations of employees demanding the Old Pension Scheme on December 28, Chauhan said.

The expansion of the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet is, however, likely to be delayed till after the Assembly Session. Sukhu, who is currently in quarantine after contracting Covid, will return to Shimla on Sunday, he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)