In Himachal Pradesh, Modi asks voters to ‘throw out govt on bail’

BILASPUR (HP): Kicking off BJP's campaign in Himachal Pradesh for this year's assembly election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked voters to throw out the Virbhadra Singh-led Congress government, terming it a "zamanati sarkar (government on bail)".

Speaking at a public rally here, Modi said some Congressmen had once come to meet him, and "when I asked them why the chief minister is not being replaced, they said, how can they change him when the entire top leadership is on bail".

Virbhadra is facing investigation for alleged money laundering and disproportionate assets.

The PM addressed the rally after laying the foundation stone for an AIIMS at Kothipura in Bilaspur, and an Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) at Saloh, Una, as well as inaugurating a steel processing plant at Kandror in Kangra.

Modi took the stage around 1.45pm, but the audience had been waiting since early morning. He was received by Himachal governor Acharya Devvrat and Virbhadra for the official function. Interestingly, as Modi attacked the Congress government in the state on several corruption-related issues, Virbhadra sat listening nearby for he had to see him off.

Asserting that no case of corruption had surfaced after the NDA government assumed office at the Centre, Modi said, "In the last three years, there has been no allegation of corruption on my government.

During the previous (UPA) regime, there used to be allegations about scams... Earlier, people used to ask questions about the money lost in such scams; now they don't. Instead, they ask how much money has come in."