Shimla, Sept. 17 -- The signing of the pact for the implementation of the 422-MW Kishau multi-purpose project between six states has triggered a war of words between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over credit for resolving the long-pending project. The dam is to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs.15,624 crore on the Tons river, a tributary of Yamuna, on the border of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. State Congress president Vinay Kumar credited chief minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu with protecting the state's interest. "This agreement would prove to be an important step towards making the state self-reliant. Full credit for this project goes to the chief minister. While the previous BJP government failed to take any meaningful decisions on this project during its tenure," Kumar said. The project envisages the construction of a 232.6-metre-high concrete gravity dam on the Tons River, which flows along the Uttarakhand-Himachal Pradesh border, with a water storage capacity of 1,562 million cubic metres. Industries minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said the project had remained pending for around 25-30 years because of differences over its terms, cost-sharing and other conditions. "If the Centre wants to call it its achievement, that is a separate matter. But Himachal Pradesh has protected its interests. Our conditions were accepted and implemented," he said. Meanwhile, Hamirpur MP Anurag Singh Thakur hit back at the Congress, saying the issue was resolved under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the central government, through dialogue, consensus and cooperation among the participating states. "It is unfortunate that an agreement involving the interests of six states, achieved through the leadership and coordination of the central government, is being presented by the Himachal Pradesh chief minister as an individual political achievement. Is the chief minister so desperate to claim credit that he is unwilling to acknowledge the contribution of the Centre and other participating states?" Thakur said. Leader of Opposition and former CM Jai Ram Thakur said the project reflected coordination between the Centre and the states....