The last day of campaigning for Vidhan Sabha election 2017 saw the Congress candidates and leaders holding road shows and addressing public meets to make the most of the time left before polling on February 15. In Dehradun, the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president and party’s Sahaspur candidate Kishore Upadhyay accompanied by Chief Minister Harish Rawat and party supporters, held a roadshow from Chakrata Road, Nanda ki Chowki to Sahaspur on Monday as part of Uttarakhand Swabhiman Yatra. The CM also visited various areas across the state to address public gatherings in support of party candidates.
Addressing a large public gathering on the grounds of SGRR inter college in Sahaspur, lambasted the Bharatiya Janata Party, opining that the party’s leaders were adept at making tall claims. He said, “The manner in which the voters of Bihar had humbled the pride of loudmouth BJP leaders, the people of Uttarakhand too will do the same in this election. Whichever state the BJP leaders visit, they talk of making that state number one but the states in which there is a BJP government, the Chief Minister and ministers are mired in corruption. Those leaders talking of change should inform the public about the change they have brought about in the states governed by the BJP. In the previous assembly election they had come up with the slogan “Khanduri hai zaruri” (Khanduri is needed) so why did Khanduri lose the electionIJ,” questioned the chief minister referring to Garhwal MP and former Chief Minister Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri’s defeat from Kotdwar constituency in the 2012 assembly polls.
The chief minister further alleged that while the BJP was talking of change in Uttarakhand, after assuming office at the Centre, it had annulled the state’s special category status and had damaged tourism in Uttarakhand by changing the traditional Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage route from the state. The BJP had tried various means to bring down the democratically elected Congres-led government in Uttarakhand but had failed to succeed in its conspiracy, added Rawat.
Speaking on the occasion, the PCC chief and Sahaspur candidate Kishore Upadhyay lambasted the prime minister Narendra Modi, opining that the demonetisation decision was ill conceived and enforced without preparation and proper management. He expressed confidence that the Vidhan Sabha election 2017 will mark the exit of BJP from Uttarakhand.
“The BJP people want to establish their party’s government in Uttarakhand using money-power and alcohol, which the people of the state will not allow to happen,” he said, while adding that development of Sahaspur constituency area would be his top priority if he is elected by the people.