The controversy over a foundation stone plaque laid by Sonia Gandhi in Himachal

New Delhi, Dec 13: A fresh controversy has erupted after the Congress returned to power in Himachal Pradesh with regard to the restoration of the foundation stone plaque of the Atal Tunnel laid by Sonia Gandhi. The state's new Chief Minister, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the state government would take up the matter of restoring the foundation stone plague of the Atal Tunnel Rohtang laid by Sonia Gandhi in the capacity of Chairperson of the National Advisory Council on June 28 2010.

Sukhu argued that the foundation stone is missing and this was an insult to democracy and the same must be restored at the earliest. He also said that the 9.02 kilometre tunnel was built by the Border Road Organisation to connected the landlocked Lahaul-Spiti district.

According to reports Sukhu has ordered the administration to restore the Atal Tunnel's inauguration plaque, which was reported missing in 2020.

The Congress had raised this issue while it was in the opposition in Himachal Pradesh. The controversy erupted after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ingrates the Atal Tunnel on October 3 2020. While the Congress claimed that it was Indira Gandhi who had originally conceived this idea, the BJP gives credit to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The BJP says that Vajpayee had announced this project in 2000 and he had allotted funds to check the feasibility and to build an approach road till Dhundi. He had also laid the foundation stone of the approach road in 2002 and the tunnel was named after him in December last year.

Congress vs BJP:

At the time of the inauguration, the Congress had raised the issue of the foundation stone for Rohtang tunnel which is now called the Atal Tunnel Rohtang. The Congress said that the foundation stone was laid by Sonia Gandhi on June 29 2010. The party said that once it comes to power in Himachal Pradesh, it will re-install the plague to its original position. The Congress continues to maintain that the idea was first conceived by Indira Gandhi and grounded by Sonia Gandhi during the UPA regime headed by Manmohan Singh.

The BJP has made it clear that it was on June 3 2000 the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and then party's in-charge for the state Narendra Modi had gone to Keylong where the people raised the issue and sought for the construction of a tunnel.

It was Keylong itself that Vajpayee announced the construction of a tunnel. Before Vajpayee reached Delhi, the Dhumal led government made out a case for the construction of a tunnel and sent it to the Prime Minister's Office. On May 26 2002, Vajpayee along with then defence minister George Fernandes laid the foundation stone of the approach for the tunnel up to the South Portal.