Shimla, March 20 Himachal Pradesh is not facing a financial crisis, but is steadily moving towards self-reliance through economic reforms, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said in the Assembly on Friday while responding to the Motion of Thanks on the Governor's Address.
Dissatisfied with the chief minister's response, the opposition BJP staged a walkout from the House, accusing Sukhu of "politicizing" natural disasters.
The Motion of Thanks was subsequently adopted by voice vote in the absence of the opposition.
During the session, Sukhu said despite facing severe financial challenges and the discontinuation of the revenue deficit grant to Himachal Pradesh, the state continues to progress rapidly.
Sukhu alleged that the BJP attempted to destabilize the Congress government last year after six Congress MLAs voted against the party's Rajya Sabha candidate, terming the act an "assassination of democracy".
However, bolstered by the support of the state's populace, the Congress government survived, and its strength in the assembly was restored to 40 members, he added.
While Sukhu was speaking, Leader of the Opposition Jairam Thakur accused the chief minister of levelling false allegations against the opposition and declared that such accusations were completely unacceptable.
Subsequently, he declared that the opposition would walk out of the House in protest of the chief minister's remarks, following which all BJP MLAs exited the assembly amid intense sloganeering.
Meanwhile, Sukhu said regardless of the state's financial condition, his government would continue to implement the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), emphasising that it was introduced not for political gain, but to provide social security to government employees.
He further said the BJP acted in this manner because it had refused to support a resolution passed in the assembly which sought liberal financial assistance from the Centre.
Sukhu said the previous BJP government failed to safeguard the state's interests, alleging that the saffron party is now grappling with factionalism, with five distinct factions vying to outdo one another.
Despite receiving Rs 70,000 crore from the Centre during its five-year tenure, the BJP left behind a debt of Rs 76,000 crore, Sukhu said, adding that his government has implemented several economic reforms and generated an additional revenue of Rs 3,800 crore to make Himachal Pradesh self-reliant.
He alleged that the previous BJP government, acting under pressure from Delhi, had signed agreements for the Dhaulasidh, Luhri, and Sunni hydroelectric projects, without securing any royalty rights.
Earlier, BJP MLA Vipin Singh Parmar argued that instead of merely stripping certain political appointees of their cabinet rank, Chief Minister Sukhu should have removed them entirely to ensure fiscal discipline.
Agriculture Minister Chandra Kumar, and legislators Chandrashekhar, Satpal Singh Satti, Ashish Butail, Bikram Singh and Trilok Jamwal also took part in the discussion.