Himachal disaster: Sukhu targets BJP MPs and own party’s Pratibha Singh

Shimla: Targeting BJP MPs from Himachal Pradesh and his own party leader Pratibha Singh, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday asked if the four parliamentarians had raised in Delhi the issue of devastation caused by the rains in the state. Responding to a remark on “Bihari architects” allegedly made by him, Sukhu told PTI that the BJP should stop playing politics.

He then took a swipe at the four “elected representatives” in Lok Sabha from the Congress-ruled state.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda at least called him up and inquired about the situation in the state, he said.

He then pointedly questioned the role of the four MPs from the state, suggesting that they failed to voice the concerns of the people.

He did not name them, but was apparently referring to the three BJP MPs -- Anurag Thakur (Hamirpur), Suresh Kashyap (Shimla) and Kishan Kapoor (Kangra). The fourth MP representing the hill state in the Lower House of Parliament is Pratibha Singh. Singh represents Mandi and is also the Congress state unit president.

Notably, Singh was also eyeing the chief minister's post and had last month aired her grievances with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge regarding 'non-coordination' between the party and the state government.

On Thursday, Union minister Anurag Thakur claimed that the Congress had shown its true colours by insulting people of Bihar by blaming them for the destruction in Himachal Pradesh. He was responding to Sukhu's reported remarks in which he blamed the construction workers from Bihar for the destruction in Shimla, one of the worst-affected districts in the hill state.

Sukhu had reportedly said, "The houses collapsing these days have not gone through the standards of structural engineering, the migrant architects (masons) whom I call Bihari architects come here and construct floor to floor. We do not have local masons." The chief minister has refuted the claims. "Show me the statement. I have not given any such statement and asked the opposition to stop politics in this hour of distress," he told PTI.