Himachal Speaker administers oath to three new legislators

Shimla, July 22 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Pathania on Monday administered the oath of office to three newly-elected legislators -- Kamlesh Thakur, Hardeep Singh Bawa, and Ashish Sharma.

Congress' Kamlesh Thakur, the wife of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu, Hardeep Singh Bawa, and the BJP's Ashish Sharma took the oath after winning the Dehra, Nalagarh and Hamirpur Assembly seats, respectively.

Chief Minister Sukhu was present for the oath-taking ceremony along with his Cabinet colleagues, legislators, and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur.

Interacting with the media later, the Chief Minister said the people of the state have rejected the politics of horse-trading.

"A conspiracy had been hatched by the BJP to topple the elected government, resulting in the Assembly by-elections. But the Congress has exposed the BJP's conspiracy before the voters, who responded decisively against it," Cm Sukhu said.

The Chief Minister also said the Congress' representation in the Assembly has again increased to 40 members (in a House of 68), as he asked the BJP leaders to abandon negative politics and cooperate with the government for the development of the state.

He also asked the BJP to stop obstructing projects from the Union government meant for the state in the larger interest of the people.

CM Sukhu said the government worked on a war footing during the natural calamity last year, but despite meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the state has not received any assistance from the Centre for disaster relief.

Reiterating his commitment to lead the state on the path of speedy development, the Chief Minister said the present government has created 28,000 job opportunities in the government sector alone, in contrast to the 20,000 jobs provided by the BJP government during its full five-year tenure, many of which were mired in legal complications.