"It was a serious endeavour of the government to provide air connectivity to the far flung areas and I am grateful to the prime minister for including Himachal under UDAN Scheme in first phase and the second phase as well," he said. Thakur said that the people wiped out Congress in Mandi district in the recent Assembly polls and it was obvious that the chief minister would be from the district.



Right from the times of Thakur Karam Singh and Sukh Ram, the tallest leaders of Mandi, chief ministership were denied to the district but the BJP, with the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave the district its due, he said.

The chief minister said that not a finger was raised against Prime Minister Modi during last four years and expressed confidence that the BJP will rule the country and state of Himachal for many more years.

Earlier, Chief Minister Thakur launched the polio vaccination drive in the state by administering polio drops to children. He said that as many as 6,44,036 children below five years of age were being administered polio drops all over the state and 5,866 booths were set up.