Shimla, Aug. 2 -- Senior BJP leader and former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has strongly criticised the Congress government's decision to reintroduce the lottery system, calling it a "step towards ruin" for the people of the state.

"When I became Chief Minister in 1998, we completely shut down the lottery system in Himachal the next year in 1999," he said, noting that the move was not just a policy decision but a conscious effort to save countless families from financial devastation.

According to a press release, Dhumal recalled that on April 17, 1996, the Himachal Pradesh High Court had imposed a complete ban on the sale of single-digit lotteries in the state. When the BJP came to power in 1998, his government deci...