JP Nadda's statements misleading, politically motivated: Cong

The leaders said the three medical colleges at Hamirpur, Chamba and Sirmaur districts were sanctioned by the UPA government and a provision of Rs 190 crore was made for each college.

Shimla, Nov 1 Congress today hit back at Union Health Minister JP Nadda for demanding the resignation of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh over alleged graft charges, saying his statements were "false, misleading and politically motivated".

"Singh was the most popular leader in the state and Nadda's utterances are false, misleading, factually incorrect and politically motivated," Cabinet ministers, Kaul Singh Thakur, Mukesh Agnihotri and Dhani Ram Shandil said in a joint statement here.

Nadda's statements expose the ill-intentions of the BJP to destabilize the government, they said. "An internal war is going on in the state BJP for supremacy. Nadda has his eyes set on state politics. He is issuing such misleading statements just to keep himself alive in the state's politics," they alleged.

The Congress leaders also refuted Nadda's claim that the state government was yet to submit DPR for the highways.

"BJP's claim that the Centre has given 61 new National Highways is a mere political announcement, as till now the state has not even received a single penny for these projects," the ministers claimed.

"The Centre has not even approved the Rs 170 crore for preparing the DPRs and the BJP knows that some of its leaders with political motives are blocking developmental projects," they said. The Congress leaders said instead of extending help to Himachal Pradesh in health sector, Nadda was "making unnecessary hue and cry".

The leaders said the three medical colleges at Hamirpur, Chamba and Sirmaur districts were sanctioned by the UPA government and a provision of Rs 190 crore was made for each college. "However, the BJP leader was unnecessarily trying to take credit for it," they said.

The ministers claimed a single case pertaining to Income Tax returns of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was being probed by the three premier central agencies of the country at the instance of the BJP, "just to harass and humiliate him". They said the matter was sub-judice and criticized Nadda for "jumping to wild conclusions".

PTI