Land bill aimed at depriving common man: Himachal CM

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Saturday said the central government's land bill was aimed at depriving the common man.

The land bill "is aimed at depriving the common man from their lands to facilitate the big corporate houses", he said at a public rally here.

Virbhadra Singh said the National Democratic Alliance government has failed on all fronts and in fulfilling its promises.

"The common man has been affected severely as prices of all essential commodities have increased manifold. What type of 'acche din' (good days) are these when the prices of pulses have gone up from Rs.100 to Rs.140 per kg and the prices of petrol and diesel and other essential commodities have also increased," the chief minister said referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's general election slogan.

The chief minister, who reached this town some 175 km from state capital Shimla by road amidst heavy rainfall, also laid the foundation stones of development projects worth Rs.21.2 crore and inaugurated projects worth Rs.15.15 crore.

Virbhadra Singh also slammed the central government for curtailing the ratio of financial assistance to the hill state, impeding its development activities.