The Bharatiya Janata Party stated that the Congress itself never conducted local body elections on time but is now raising questions at the electoral process. The BJP State president Mahendra Bhatt said this while responding to allegations levelled by the Congress regarding delay in conduct of the urban local body elections in Uttarakhand. Interacting with media persons at the BJP State office here on Monday, Bhatt said that while in power the Congress never conducted the local body elections on time. However, now it is trying to play politics on the necessity for timely elections. Bhatt said, “Compared to the past when there were 60 urban local bodies, there are now 103 local bodies in the State. Due to expansion of the local body limits, the demarcation of rural areas of a large scale takes time. Further, it is also essential to complete the processes regarding the reservation and voters list.” Targetting the Congress, he said that despite conducive situations during its time in power the Congress always delayed the local body elections by six months.
On the subject of the Congress’ reaction to the planned visit of Dhirendra Shastri of Bageshwar Dham to Dehradun, Bhatt said he was unaware why the Congress had a problem with Sanatan culture and religious personalities even though a large number of Congress leaders visit such programmes. The BJP welcomes all religious and social personalities to Uttarakhand, he added.
