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Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Tuesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of politicising the Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) issue.
Referring to the RDG controversy, the Chief Minister said the previous government led by former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur had received the highest Revenue Deficit Grant. Despite this, he alleged, the state's debt burden was not reduced. Instead, loans amounting to 47,000 crore were taken, and liabilities worth thousands of crores were left behind. Sukhu clarified that RDG has neither been accepted nor rejected. "The Finance Commission has only noted it in its report. The Centre can provide RDG depending on the prevailing circumstances," he said. The Chief Minister said he had held detailed discussions on the matter with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi during his recent visit to Delhi. He added that comparing Himachal Pradesh with Kerala on the RDG issue was inappropriate, as RDG is granted under constitutional provisions to compensate for revenue deficits and does not adversely affect Kerala. Appealing to the Bharatiya Janata Party for cooperation on the issue, CM Sukhu said the opposition party in the state did not appear willing to extend support. Commenting on the possibility of a protest at Jantar Mantar, he described it as part of a political strategy and said a decision would be taken after due deliberation. On the reported late-night action by Delhi Police at Himachal Sadan, Sukhu termed the move unconstitutional. He said that due information should have been given to the Delhi Resident Commissioner before any action was taken. According to the Chief Minister, Youth Congress workers had booked rooms at Himachal Sadan in the usual manner and made the required payments. "There was nothing unusual about the bookings," he said. He also expressed support for the Youth Congress protest during the AI Impact Summit and termed the arrest of Youth Congress president Uday Bhan as unjustified. "He could have been released after being counselled. His arrest was not appropriate," Sukhu said.The Chief Minister also asserted that it is the Congress high command which would decide the party's candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. On the Rajya Sabha elections, he said, "The AICC president and Rahul Gandhi will decide the candidate, and we will ensure the candidate's victory." (ANI)
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