In what may be viewed by some as a “proactive” effort of rising above political differences in the interests of the public, the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay has urged all parties to come forward for tackling the alarming conditions caused by dengue and Chikungunya in parts of the state. In addition to the State governor Krishan Kant Paul and chief minister Harish Rawat, the PCC chief has also written letters to the Bharatiya Janata Party national president Amit Shah, leader of opposition in the Vidhan Sabha, Ajay Bhatt, Vidhan Sabha Speaker GS Kunjwal along with the state heads of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party and three major factions of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) seeking their assistance in tackling the spread of the potentially deadly diseases in Uttarakhand.
He exhorted leaders of all political parties to make united effort to save the public, stating that without the people, politics itself will cease to exist.
In his letters to the constitutional and elected position holders along with heads of various political parties, Upadhyay has urged them to assist the state of Uttarakhand in tackling and treating the situation resulting from the spread of deadly diseases -- dengue, malaria and chikungunia in the state.
Providing this information, PCC vice president Jot Singh Bisht said that in letters written to the governor, chief minister and leaders of all the political parties, the PCC chief has stated that it is “a cause of uttermost concern and despair that lives were lost in the state to diseases like dengue, chikungunia and malaria due to our negligence”. Upadhyay states, “lives were extinguished in untimely stages of those who also carried unlimited future potential. No one has control over death but it is an unpardonable crime if human errors cause the death of those who were the sole hope for the future in their family. The Government should take proper steps regarding this while also making uncompromising legal provision.
Now is not the time to play ‘politics’ at a time when every fifth home in the State is being visited by such diseases. For the past 10 days I too have been passing through such conditions,” said the PCC chief who had been recently afflicted with dengue. He further wrote, “I was shaken with an 18-year-old youth in the hospital I was in succumbed due to lack of complete medical treatment.I also want to request leaders of all political parties to consider that it only when the people of Uttarakhand remain alive that we will be able to conduct politics. How would politics be conducted if the public will not remainIJ I wanted to say a lot through this letter but it is proscribed due to my deteriorated health condition with the doctors completely prohibiting me from talking,” states Upadhyay, while requesting leaders to desist from indulging in politics on such life threatening diseases and instead meet if possible to chalk out the plan of action against the health threats.