Oust traditional parties from Himachal, says Punjab CM

Mandi (Himachal Pradesh), Sep 9 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday exhorted the youth of Himachal Pradesh to act as a catalyst of change by ousting the traditional political parties from the state.

"Don't expect that power falls into your lap but work hard to ensure that a new era of unprecedented development is ushered in your state," he said while promising six guarantees - jobs for all youth, an unemployment allowance, advisory board for traders, ending of inspector rule, a corruption-free administration and others to residents of hilly state.

The Chief Minister, accompanied by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, said that by playing musical chairs, the traditional parties have mercilessly plundered the wealth of the state, and have connived with each other to shield their misdeeds.

The real sufferers have been the people and state who have lagged behind in progress and prosperity, he said, adding that the time has come when the youth must come forward and work hard to rout these parties from the hill state.

He said that people from Delhi and Punjab had already brought revolution in their respective states and now, it should be replicated in the hill state too.

Mann said the time has come when the youth must play a decisive role in the process of national building.

He bemoaned that though the state and its people have suffered due to poor policies of these leaders but the families of the leaders have prospered.

While the people are starving for food, the politicians and their families are living an opulent lifestyle, and this has to be reversed for which the youth must play a vanguard role, he said.

The Chief Minister said AAP is continuously working for reform in the education and health sector.

Citing the "stark difference" between the education which Gandhi family scion and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi obtained from an elite school and the education which a common child attains from the government school, he said that his party is working on a model to ensure that government schools turn into 'schools of eminence' to provide quality education to youth, so that the common man's child can compete with his convent educated peers.