The ongoing political slugfest on Gairsain took a new turn on Monday when leader of opposition in Uttarakhand Assembly Indira Hridayesh revealed that during the Assembly sessions held at Gairsain, some Ministers and members of ruling party plead for early end to the session.
Talking to the media persons at her office in Vidhan Sabha, Hridayesh said, “It was biting cold during the last year’s winter session in Gairsain. Everybody was troubled by cold. At that time, many BJP members including some Minister came to me and pleaded that the session should come to an early end.’’ She charged the State Government for not being serious on making Gairsain as Capital of the State.
The statement of the LoP on Gairsain came after a recent utterance of the senior Cabinet Minister Harak Singh Rawat in which he had said that the treasury benches connive with the opposition member to finish session early whenever it is held in Gairsain.
The Minister had also said that there is no point in convening Assembly Session in Gairsain in absence of facilities. The debate on Assembly session on Gairsain was kick started by President of the state unit of BJP, Ajay Bhatt when he said that he is not in favour of convening assembly session at Gairsain till infrastructure facilities are set up there.
The statement of the BJP President created furore and the party came on the target of opposition congress and statehood activists. The Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Pritam Singh charged that the BJP is not serious on Gairsain and claimed that not even a single brick has been placed in Gairsain during the BJP rule.
The Statehood activists undertaking a campaign for Gairsain as permanent capital of Uttarakhand claimed that the statement of Bhatt revealed the real face of BJP on Gairsain. In a damage control exercise the Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat distancing himself from the statement of BJP president stated that it for the Government to decide on the session at Gairsain.
The Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prakash Pant chipped in by saying that least one important session of Assembly would be organised at Gairsain every year.