Jairam Thakur congratulates newly sworn-in HP MLAs, expresses confidence in their commitment to public welfare

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], July 22 (ANI): After the three newly elected members of the Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly took their oaths as legislators on Monday after winning the recent by-elections, LoP Jairam Thakur congratulated the MLAs and expressed confidence that they would dedicate their lives to public welfare.

Speaking with ANI, Thakur said, “The result of the recent bypoll in the state is out now. I congratulate all three new MLAs. I hope they will raise the issues of the public in the Assembly and dedicate their lives to the public welfare.”

Himachal Pradesh Congress President Pratibha Singh also spoke about the elected members of the state legislative assembly and said, “It’s a moment of happiness for us that we have crossed the 40 seats mark again. Our government is in a comfortable position now.”

Congress candidates Kamlesh Thakur, Hardeep Baba Bawa and BJP candidate Ashish Sharma took the oath after winning the seats in Dehra, Nalagarh and Hamirpur, respectively.

Congress candidate and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s wife, Kamlesh Thakur, won the assembly by-election from the Dehra constituency by defeating Hoshyar Singh of the BJP. Congress candidate Hardeep Singh Bawa won the Nalagarh assembly constituency seat by defeating the BJP’s KL Thakur. The only silver lining for the BJP in the assembly by-elections is in Hamirpur, where its candidate Ashish Sharma won by a slender lead.

The seats fell vacant after the three independent legislators, Hoshiyar Singh from Dehra, Ashish Sharma from Hamirpur and K L Thakur from Nalagarh, who had voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls held on February 27, resigned from the state assembly on March 22 and joined the party the next day.

Thakur also spoke on the presentation of the actual budget, which is scheduled for Tuesday and said, “I congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the central budget. He got the opportunity to lead the nation for the third time. The people of the country have given him their mandate and support and after a gap of 60 years, someone has become the Prime Minister for the third time.”

He also extended his wishes to the Finance Minister. “I extend my wishes to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman too. The budget will be in the interest of the public and the nation. PM Modi has made it clear that our vision is for 2047 and of course, the budget is expected to be in that direction. A good budget will be presented.”

Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday tabled the economic survey in Parliament, a day ahead of the full Budget presentation for 2024-25.

The Economic Survey document, prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance and formulated under the supervision of the chief economic adviser, gives insights into the state of the economy and various indicators of 2023-24 (April-March) and some outlook for the current year.

The Economy Survey document also gave some idea about the tone and texture of the actual Budget for 2024-25, to be presented on Tuesday.