Shimla, Sept. 1 -- Leader of Opposition and former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Tuesday accused the Congress government of closing educational and public welfare institutions opened by the previous BJP administration out of political malice, only to reopen them later due to public pressure.

Addressing the media on the eighth day of the Monsoon Session of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, Thakur criticised Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu for using the House to deliver "political speeches" rather than presenting factual data, warning that the credibility and decorum of the Assembly have severely declined.

He said the government had reopened 362 institutions after initially denotifying them, while 123 institutions t...