Congress demands HP govt to 'Restore plaque declaring Sonia laid Atal Tunnel's foundation stone'

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh Congress Accused Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur of falsely taking credit for the construction of the Atal tunnel, and on Sunday demanded the restoration of the plaque declaring that Sonia Gandhi laid the foundation stone, or the party will do so after they come to power.

Pratibha Singh, Himachal Pradesh Congress president said in a press statement issued on Sunday that on June 23, 2010, Sonia Gandhi was the one who laid the foundation stone of the tunnel.

"By removing the foundation stone laid by Sonia Gandhi, the BJP governments at the Center and the state have shown their petty mentality," said the Mandi MP.

She added that the tribal area of Lahaul Spiti and the people of the state are well aware of this fact.

"The CM cannot mislead the people by telling lies."

The Congress state president then added, "It is very unfortunate that the names of Congress leaders Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi who played an important role in the construction of this tunnel, are not even taken."

She alleged the present BJP of tampering with the nation's history to further its political goals.

"If the BJP government does not restore this plaque, this plaque will be restored at the same place as soon as the Congress government is formed in the state," Singh said.

On October 14, 2020, the Himachal Pradesh police said that the foundation stone was kept safe by the construction company that built the tunnel.

The police clarification comes after the state Congress alleged that the foundation stone that was laid for the tunnel by Sonia Gandhi a decade ago was removed from its place before the tunnel was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 3, 2020.

Kullu superintendent of Police Gaurav Singh said that the Border Roads Organizations (BRO) has kept the stone in the mechanical workshop of SAJV, the construction company of the tunnel to avoid it being damaged during construction works.

The SP said that they had forwarded to the Kullu police the complaint that it had received from the district Congress with regards to the plaque that was missing.

He added that during the investigation, it was understood that the foundation stone was safe in the workshop.

In a letter to Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur in October 2020 itself, the then state Congress president Kuldeep Singh Rathore said that Gandhi laid the foundation stone in 2010 in the presence of then Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Union Minister Virbhadra Singh.

The tunnel is named after the former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee who had announced the project in June 2000 at Lahaul-Spiti's Keylong during a public meeting.

In 2002, the foundation stone for an approach road to the tunnel was laid by Vajpayee.

An all-weather road under the 13,058-foot mountain at Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh, Atal Tunnel Rohtang connects Lahaul in Lahaul-Spiti district and Manali in Kullu district in Himachal Pradesh. The 9.2 km long tunnel is the longest highway single tube tunnel in the world above an altitude of 10,040 feet.

With PTI inputs