Questioning the reason behind the changes made in the Bharatiya Janata Party national president Amit Shah’s tour plan for Uttarakhand on June 25, the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee has expressed concern correlating Shah’s visit to the disturbances in the recent past at landhaura in Haridwar district and in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.
The PCC president, Kishore Upadhyay said that the PCC office-bearers will meet in Haridwar on June 24 to finalise whether or not to carry out the peace march planned by the Congress in landhaura on June 25. He also raised the issue of the uncertainty regarding the State’s budget at a time when the president of India Pranab Mukherjee is slated to visit Kedarnath on Wednesday.
Addressing the media at the Congress Bhawan here on Tuesday, the PCC chief said that the president of India, Pranab Mukherjee is scheduled to visit Kedarnath in Uttarkhand on Wednesday if the weather permits. Upadhyay said,“The president’s visit depends on the will of lord Kedarnath. However, even if inclement weather prevents the president’s helicopter from flying to Kedarnath on Wednesday, we want to elicit attention on the uncertainty looming over the State budget for 2016-17.
Prime minister Narendra Modi and Shah are responsible for the present condition of budgetary uncertainty in the State which had also been under president’s rule following the political disturbance orchestrated by them. Considering the disturbance being reported from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and the landhaura incident in Haridwar district in the recent past, we have the right to question the intentions of the national president of a national political party.
If Shah is coming to Uttarakhand to bring about positive development or announce approval to the long standing demands of the State especially regarding central budgetary allocation, green bonus to the State along with fund and resource allocation to Uttarakhand for cleaning the Ganga river and enable its unrestricted flow under the Namami Gange mission, we will appreciate it. However, considering the disturbance in neighouring Uttar Pradesh and the landhaura incident recently we would like to know whether Shah’s visit to landhaura is aimed at gaining political advantage at the cost of public interest,” said Upadhyay.
Regarding the peace march earlier planned by the Congress in landhaura on June 25, he said that the PCC office bearers are scheduled to meet in Haridwar on June 24 to decide whether or not to take out the peace march as planned or to make changes in the date. When asked about comments made by ex chief minister and BJP leader Vijay Bahuguna on the issue of Gairsain, he said that there was no bitterness between him and Bahuguna at the personal level now even after he left the Congress to join the BJP.
“The Tehri region has had a proactive electoral history which has not seen bitter personal rivalry based on political differences. In the past when candidates used to ca mpaign in the polls, the candidate addressing the gathering of the electorate, after finishing his speech also used to tell the public to wait for the rival candidate who was next in the sequence of speakers at the common venue.” Upadhyay also repeated the various allegations being leveled by the Congress at the BJP-led Central Government. The PCC vice president Jot Singh Bisht and other office bearers were also present in the Press conference.