Sataun (Paonta Sahib), October 15
Union Home Minister Amit Shah today said be it according the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Hattee community of the trans-Giri region in Himachal Pradesh's Sirmaur district, abrogation of Article 370 or building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the Narendra Modi government had made possible what previously seemed impossible.
Addressing a rally in the Hattee-dominated Sataun belt ahead of the November 12 Himachal Assembly poll, Shah said the struggle of the Hattee community for ST status had ended after a 55-year struggle. He said 154 panchayats comprising 379 villages and 1.6 lakh people would benefit through various reservation schemes. He credited CM Jai Ram Thakur for time and again raising the issue with the Centre.
Attacking the Congress, he alleged the opposition party had been trying to mislead the Scheduled Caste (SC) community for vested interests. He said the Modi government abrogated Article 370, which accorded special status to Jamp;K. "Did you ever think that Article 370 would be abrogated," he asked the gathering.
Setting the tone for the Assembly elections, he claimed the BJP would retain power in Himachal as the state voters were set to change the decades-old tradition of voting out the ruling party every five years. "A new culture of 'Ek baar BJP, baar baar BJP' (consecutive terms for BJP) will be established," he said, citing the example of neighbouring Uttarakhand where the BJP retained power with a two-thirds majority.
Shah vouched for freedom from dynastic politics, saying it was the "hallmark of the Congress, but PM Modi had finished the tradition in the BJP". Taking a swipe at Congress state president Pratibha Singh, who belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Rampur Bushahr, he said the time of "rajas and maharajas" was over and people now elected only those who performed as per people's aspirations.
A slogan "Hattee ka mama kaisa ho, Jai Ram mama jaisa ho" (CM Jai Ram had fulfilled wishes of the Hattees) echoed at the rally, contrary to the earlier slogan "Joiya mama shunda nahin", coined by employees for not acceding to their demand for old pension scheme.
Courtesy: Tribune News Service