On the directions of Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay, Congress members held candle marches on Monday evening at district and block headquarters across the State to protest against price rise and ‘anti-people’ policies of the Central Government. In the State capital, party members congregated at the Congress Bhawan and walked to the Gandhi Park nearby with candles lit. Addressing party members on the occasion, UPCC vice president Jot Singh Bisht alleged that the general public was suffering the effects of consistent price rise due to the anti-people policies of the NDA government at the Centre.
He said, “On October 19, the Congress had organised Arhar ki Dal pe Charcha regarding the steep rise in price of food items including pulses. However, since the Centre failed to taken any corrective measures, we held candle marches across the State today and if the Centre still fails to take necessary steps, the Congress workers will undertake a broad agitation across the State. Since its formation, the BJP led NDA government at the Centre has been biased against Uttarakhand. By bringing about cuts in budgetary allocations to the State and central funded schemes, the Central Government has pushed the state behind in terms of development,” alleged Bisht, adding that the BJP will face the consequences of price rise and other issues in the 2017 Assembly elections.
Accompanied by the party’s Mahanagar unit members, the Mahanagar executive head Prithviraj Chauhan said that price rise has made it more difficult for the poor to have even two square meals a day. He said, “Campaigning for the lok Sabha elections, prime minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders had made many promises to the voters. The people of Uttarakhand had elected BJP candidates from all the five lok Sabha constituencies in the State but are now feeling disappointed. Congress workers will expose the deeds of the BJP in the public,” claimed Chauhan.