Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu went on the offensive on Friday, October 16, 2026, claiming his government had turned around the state's health infrastructure and fiscal footing even as New Delhi blocked two major revenue streams — and calling out BJP national president J.P. Nadda by name for credit he says was not earned.

Two financial blows — and a government still standing

Sukhu's central argument is one of resilience under constraint. He said the Centre's closure of the Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG), worth ₹8,000 crore, combined with a freeze on ₹1,600 crore in additional borrowing capacity — a direct consequence of Himachal restoring the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) — had significantly squeezed state finances. Under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) framework, states that reverted to OPS face central restrictions on additional market borrowings, a policy tension that Himachal has lived with since the Sukhu government reversed the 2005 switch to the National Pension System.

Despite that pinch, he argued, the state was 'standing on its own feet' — apne pairon par khada ho raha hai — and that the BJP, rather than scoring political points, ought to acknowledge the effort.

Nadda's funding claim and the staffing counter-punch

The sharpest exchange in the post is directed at Jagat Prakash Nadda, the BJP president and a senior leader from Himachal Pradesh who previously served as Union Health Minister. Sukhu dismissed Nadda's assertion that 'we gave money' by pointing to what he called a structural failure left behind: during the BJP government's 2017–2022 tenure, medical colleges in the state ran at just 35% staff strength. Where 100 positions were required, only 35 were filled, he said.

The BJP government had sanctioned and upgraded several medical colleges in that period, making Nadda's funding claim a familiar talking point. Sukhu's rebuttal pivots from capital outlay to operational reality — bricks and budgets mean little when wards are short-staffed.

Tanda's 20-year wait — and a 60% turnaround

Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda, in Kangra district — established in 1996 and one of Himachal's oldest — sits at the centre of his evidence. Sukhu said the institution, which he described as being in a 'pathetic condition' three and a half years ago, had seen a 60% improvement since his government took over. Most strikingly, he said his government had restarted Senior Residency (SR) positions at Tanda after a gap of 20 years — a move that directly addresses the chronic shortage of specialist doctors who train and serve simultaneously.

SR-ships are the lifeblood of teaching hospitals: without them, both service delivery and postgraduate medical training stall. A two-decade lapse, if accurate, would represent a serious governance failure that long predates any single administration.

What Sukhu is signalling ahead of the budget cycle

The post closes with a forward pledge: health services will improve further in the time ahead. With the state budget cycle for 2027–28 approaching and the National Medical Commission conducting periodic staffing inspections of government colleges, the claim of a 60% turnaround at Tanda will eventually meet independent scrutiny. For now, Sukhu is staking his governance narrative on a single, specific institution — the kind of concrete anchor that is either vindicated or exposed by the next inspection report.

The Congress–BJP battle for credit over Himachal's health infrastructure is not new, but the specificity of the charge — 35% staffing, 20-year SR gap, ₹8,000 crore RDG loss — raises the stakes of the argument and shifts it from rhetoric to record.