Cong manifesto adoped as policy document in HP, says Viplove

Chandigarh, June 23 (UNI) The Himachal Pradesh Government has adopted the Congress manifesto as its policy document and has been implementing it for the benefit of people, State Congress President Viplove Thakur said today.

While the Government has fulfilled most of the promises made in the manifesto, it will be fullfilling the remaining promises in due course of time as the manifesto is meant for implementation in five years, she said, addressing a ''Meet-the-Press'' programme here.

Denying the allegation that the Government, headed by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, indulged in wasteful expenditure, Ms Thakur said the present Government was alive to the problems of every section of society and was making efforts to redress them.

The Government, she said, had laid a condition that 70 per cent of employmnet be given to locals in various projects coming up in Himachal Pradesh. She said the Government had given top priority to social sector and restored the benefits given to people under various schemes in this sector, which were frozen by the previous BJP Government.

Ms Thakur, who took over as state Congress President last year, said there could be difference of opinion among party leaders on one issue or other but there was no dissidence in the state Congress unit which was united to the core. ''I have no differences with the Chief Minister at any level and on the implementation of the manifesto'', she added.

Ms Thakur, a Rajya Sabha member, said she was making efforts to further strengthen the Congress unit in the state with an eye on elections in 2008. She has already visited 28 constituencies out of 68 blocks and hopes to cover the remaining constituencies by year end. She plans to form committees at polling booth level in a bid to galvanise the party for the polls, she said.

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