Record Central Assistance, Yet Financial Crisis Cry — Bindal Flags Gaps in Himachal’s Governance
Shimla: The BJP on Sunday tore into the Congress-led Himachal Pradesh government, accusing it of masking administrative failures and financial mismanagement behind a manufactured “crisis narrative”, even as official state data shows unprecedented central assistance flowing into the hill state.
Addressing a press conference here today, BJP state president Dr. Rajeev Bindal said the problem confronting Himachal Pradesh is not a shortage of funds but the inability of the present Sukhu government to utilise available resources efficiently, despite being in power for nearly 40 months.
Bindal questioned the intent and seriousness of the recently convened all-party meeting, pointing out that key leaders from the ruling Congress were conspicuously absent.
The State Congress president did not attend, the Deputy Chief Minister was missing, and ministers directly handling finance-related portfolios were not even invited.
“This raises doubts whether the meeting was meant for consensus-building or merely political optics,” he said.
Citing figures from the state government’s own financial presentation, Bindal said Himachal’s share in central taxes has risen from around 0.830 per cent to 0.914 per cent, translating into an estimated ₹13,950 crore in 2026, about ₹2,450 crore more than the previous year.
Additional inflows include ₹4,179 crore under rural and urban development grants and ₹2,682 crore through SDRF and DMF allocations.
He also contrasted Finance Commission support over the decades, noting that Himachal received modest allocations during earlier commissions, while the quantum of funds has multiplied in recent years.
According to him, the state received about ₹40,624 crore under the Fourteenth Finance Commission and nearly ₹48,000 crore under the Fifteenth, far exceeding earlier periods.
On Revenue Deficit Grants (RDG), Bindal said Himachal received around ₹18,091 crore between 2004 and 2014, compared to approximately ₹89,254 crore between 2015 and 2025.
Of this, nearly ₹27,000 crore has flowed in during the tenure of the current state government alone.
“Despite this, the government continues to project a picture of fiscal collapse,” he remarked.
The BJP leader alleged that even with massive inflows, the state has witnessed closure of institutions, delays in pension and allowance payments, curtailment of welfare schemes, and a series of tax hikes on cement, diesel, stamp duty, transport fares and electricity tariffs — costs that have directly landed on ordinary citizens.
Referring to the state’s fiscal data, Bindal said current revenue stands at around ₹42,000 crore against expenditure of ₹48,000 crore, leaving a gap of about ₹6,000 crore.
However, projected revenue for the coming financial year is expected to rise to nearly ₹26,600 crore, which, he argued, weakens claims of an impending financial emergency.
Bindal further claimed that Himachal Pradesh has received nearly ₹2.12 lakh crore from the Centre through tax devolution, central schemes, NABARD funding, PMGSY, multilateral assistance and other development heads. In addition, national highway and four-lane projects worth about ₹46,000 crore are underway, with nearly ₹6,000 crore allocated for highway maintenance, apart from projects executed by the Border Roads Organisation.
Pointing to the Union Government’s ₹12.2 lakh crore national infrastructure push, Bindal said Himachal has a clear opportunity to attract investment in tourism, roads, power, water, health and education — an opportunity he claimed is being squandered due to weak execution and political blame-shifting.
“The figures are from the state government’s own records,” Bindal said, asserting that political accusations against the Centre cannot conceal governance failures on the ground.
He added that the BJP would continue to raise issues of transparency and public interest while offering constructive cooperation for the state’s development.