Himachal Assembly elections: Won't accept outsiders like AAP, says CM Jai Ram Thakur

New Delhi, March 25: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday dismissed the impact of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state and claimed people would not accept an outsider.

"Himachal Pradesh may be a small state in size, but people carry values, emotions and sentiments with them. It is very difficult for them to accept any outsiders," said Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, who is in Delhi to launch the new media centre at Himachal Bhawan. Also Read | PM Modi congratulates 'friend' Emmanuel Macron on re-election as French President Thakur said the new entrant in Himachal politics AAP did not have a presence on the grassroots level and to build up their presence in the hilly state, they were bringing in people from other states. "It is known that the Aam Aadmi Party has sent its party cadre to certain areas in the Himachal to assess the ground situation, including that in Una. They have started working in the state only recently and they don't have any ground presence of gram leaders. They are bringing people from other states and I am sure people of Himachal will vote intelligently," said Thakur. Further, taking potshots at the AAP for being ambitious in a Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state, Jai Ram Thakur said, "Punjab was different, but when people from the plains come to Himachal they fail to catch their breath and often end up breathless." The incumbent Chief Minister and face of the party in the upcoming polls, Thakur is confident of the BJP's victory in the Himachal Assembly elections. "It is true that the same party has consecutively come in power in Himachal but witnessing the results of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, I am confident that BJP will form government and History in Himachal," said CM. Also Read | India coronavirus update: Single day rise of 2,541 new Covid infections, 30 more succumb to virus Currently, Himachal Pradesh also known as 'Dev Bhoomi' has 68 assembly seats out of which the ruling BJP government has 43 seats. The state is scheduled to witness polls in November this year. -PTC News