launching a scathing attack on the Chief Minister Harish Rawat , who is now slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party for purportedly indulging in vindictive politics, the BJP State president Ajay Bhatt said on Monday that it is the other way round with the CM proving vindictive vis-à-vis the Opposition. “There are instances galore to buttress our charge. Our leaders and MlAs are being singled out for the tyranny the state government is unleashing. To name a few, there are BJP lawmakers Puran Fartyal, Arvind Pandey, Rajkumar Thukral and Ganesh Joshi aside from the former MlA Pranav Singh 'Champion' who were at the receiving end of the Harish Rawat government’s vindictive politics, meant to finish off the Opposition,” he said. He asked the CM to explain why the accused of the murder of Champion’s father-in-law has been released on parole. “This not just smacks of vindictive politics but also of vulgar and inhuman politics,” he said.
“Puran Fartyal languished in jail for a month. Arvind Pandey was also shoved into jail. So was Rajkumar Thukral. Ganesh Joshi faced the same fate as he was put behind the bars. Joshi being pushed in jail deprived him of the opportunity to take part in the voting in the House during the turbulent days when as many as nine Congress MlAs, including a cabinet minister, turned rebel against the CM,” he said.
Turning the heat on the parole given to the murder accused of the father –in- law of the now- disqualified MlA Pranav Singh 'Champion', he said that while the administration should put the criminals behind the bar in the run-up to the election, they are freeing the murder accused on parole. “What can be more disgraceful than thisIJ” he asked.
Notably, Champion was one of the nine Congress rebels who was later disqualified from the membership of the Assembly under anti-defection act. He thereafter switched to BJP.