Dhumal exhorts partymen for next assembly election in 2008

Una, June 24 (UNI) Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today announced that every assembly segment in the Hamirpur Parliamentary segment will have an ''Ambedkar Bhawan''.

Delivering his maiden address to the party workers of the district, after being elected as MP from Hamirpur Parliamentary constituency, he exhorted them to work for the poor and the downtrodden sections of the society.

Mr Dhumal gave the slogan 'Garib se judo aur garib ko Joro' (unite with the poor and unite the poor) to BJP party workers in preparation for the next Assembly elections.

Thanking all sections of the society for their support to the BJP during the Parliamentary by-elections, he urged the partymen to work harder in Santoshgarh, the only constituency that gave a lead to the Congress party in Una district.

He also appealed to the workers to improve upon the leads is their respective areas in the Assembly elections, due in February 2008.

The BJP leader said he had received complaints that a few government employees and industrialists had misbehaved with the BJP workers during the by-elections.

Warning of strict action against such persons, he said they would not be spared, adding that while industrialists from outside the state were welcome to invest here and enjoy the benefits of the special industrial package, their indulgence in acts like criminal intimidation of any political activist would not be tolerated.

Reacting to the reports of a BJP flag being burnt down during an election campaign in Santoshgarh area, Mr Dhumal said BJP workers held the flag in high esteem and any insult of their party flag would be dealt with accordingly.

The BJP leader lashed out at the ruling party for its ''all round failure during the last four and a half years,'' and said the people of the Hamirpur Parliamentary segment had put the final nail in the Congress' coffin.

Mr Dhumal announced that a sum of Rs 12 lakh from the MP Local Area Development funds would be spent in Una Assembly segment as part of the first installment for various projects, funds for which would be allocated as per the list provided by local BJP MLA Satpal Singh 'Satti'.

Kutlehar legislator and district BJP President Virender Kanwar, former ministers Parveen Sharma and Sadhu Ram, former MLAs Jaikishan Sharma and Kashmiri Lal Joshi were also present.

UNI