Shimla, May 23 (Reporter) A day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to Himachal Pradesh, Congress party leaders on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the BJP for its alleged apathy towards the state's people during last year's devastating monsoon season. In a statement, Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan and Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi accused PM Modi of being "disconnected" from the masses and only showing interest in Himachal during election periods. Chauhan and Negi lambasted Modi for not visiting Himachal Pradesh during the catastrophic rains, which were the worst in the state's history. They highlighted the devastating toll of over 550 lives lost and more than 22,000 families affected. They noted that despite the severe impact, the Prime Minister did not express condolences to the bereaved families or address the suffering of the people. According to the Congress leaders, Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu made multiple trips to Delhi to seek a special relief package for Himachal Pradesh. However, their pleas were allegedly ignored by the union government, which provided no financial assistance to the disaster-stricken families. In contrast, the state Congress government managed to rehabilitate the affected families using its own resources, allocating a special relief package of Rs 4500 crore without any help from the Centre. Chauhan and Negi criticized the ten-year tenure of the BJP government at the Centre, accusing it of neglecting the development of Himachal Pradesh and betraying the people with false promises of a "double engine government." They claimed that this neglect has plunged the state into debt. Furthermore, they pointed out that in the last elections, PM Modi promised to triple the import duty on apples, a crucial crop for the state’s economy. However, this promise was not fulfilled; instead, the import duty was reduced to 50 percent, adversely affecting local apple growers. The increased import of foreign apples has led to significant losses for Himachal's Rs 5000 crore apple industry, impacting thousands of families reliant on apple farming. The Congress leaders asserted that Modi's forthcoming visit is yet another example of his election-centric engagement with Himachal Pradesh. They expressed skepticism that he would bring up local dishes like Sepu Badi and Madra during his visit to feign familiarity and connection with the people. Instead, they argued, he should have visited during the disaster to provide comfort and increased the import duty to support local apple growers. Chauhan and Negi concluded that the people of Himachal Pradesh would not be swayed by Modi's rhetoric this time. They predicted that all four Lok Sabha seats in the state would go to the Congress party, reflecting the electorate's disillusionment with the BJP's unfulfilled promises and lack of genuine concern for the state's welfare...////...