Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has now turned to the BJP at the centre for a a special financial package to bail out the state, which is reeling under an ever-swelling wage bill after being "refused" assistance by his own party's previous Congress government.
Political observers say the chief minister has tried his best to convince the new central leadership about the state's deteriorating financial condition after he failed to get any major bonanza from the previous Congress government.
The chief minister called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi this week and lobbied hard to take debit-ridden state out of economic inertia.
Besides demanding a special package of industrial incentives, particularly income tax exemption for five years and central excise exemption for 10 years on new industries till 2020, Virbhadra Singh raised the issue of the funding pattern of centrally sponsored schemes on uniform 90:10 pattern for all special category states, including Himachal Pradesh.
The chief minister also apprised the prime minister about underestimation of committed liabilities by the 13th Finance Commission, which capped the expenditure on salaries on the low side, which had resulted in the grim financial position.
