"Centre gives step-motherly treatment to Himachal Pradesh": HPCC Chief Vinay Kumar

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], February 2 : The Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Vinay Kumar on Monday alleged that the Union government has meted out "step-motherly treatment" to the state in the Union Budget for 2026-27, saying the people of Himachal Pradesh are deeply dissatisfied with the allocations made for the hill state.
Speaking to reporters in Shimla, Vinay Kumar said the Congress had expected special consideration for Himachal Pradesh, particularly given its difficult geography and the repeated natural disasters that have hit the state over the past two to three years.
"The Union Budget presented yesterday for 2026-27 has left the people of Himachal Pradesh dissatisfied. We strongly feel that the Centre has treated Himachal Pradesh in a step-motherly manner. We fail to understand why this has been done," he said.
He said Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had repeatedly met with the Prime Minister, the Union Finance Minister, and the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, to raise the state's concerns and expectations.
"Despite these meetings, we had hoped that our hill state, which has suffered massive natural disasters in the last two to three years, disrupting normal life completely, would be given due relief," he added.
The HPCC chief noted that Himachal Pradesh had received around Rs 78,000 crore in revenue deficit grants over the past five years, which, he said, had provided significant relief to the state and helped sustain development activities.
"A large portion of this money was spent on disaster management and restoration. From the 16th Finance Commission, we were expecting around Rs 50,000 crore as revenue deficit grant for the next five years, even if it was in a descending order," HPCC said.
However, he alleged that the Centre has completely scrapped the revenue deficit grant in the latest budget.
"This time, the revenue deficit grant has been reduced to zero. We never expected this. This decision is completely against the interests of Himachal Pradesh," he said.
Vinay Kumar said the issue was being taken very seriously by the state's population of around 75 lakh.
"The people of Himachal Pradesh are taking this matter very seriously. The Centre's behaviour is not appropriate," he said.
Criticising the BJP's elected representatives, he said Himachal Pradesh sends four MPs to the Lok Sabha and also has representation in the Rajya Sabha.
"The people of Himachal Pradesh have given equal respect and mandate to the BJP as well. It was the duty of BJP MPs to strongly present the state's case and ensure that Himachal Pradesh received its rightful grants. They have completely failed in this responsibility," he alleged.
Reiterating his charge, the HPCC chief said, "The way the Centre is behaving with Himachal Pradesh is nothing but step-motherly treatment, and this is unacceptable to the people of the state."