Protesting against the alleged four-year ‘misrule’ of the Congress-led Uttarakhand Government, the State BJP is planning to gherao the Vidhan Sabha on Monday. The Opposition party hopes that thousands of people would participate in the rally. As per the saffron party’s plan, while the BJP MlAs would gherao the Treasury benches inside the House, the other leaders would do the same from outside.
However, the party activists are not satisfied with the arrangements made to bring them from the far-flung areas of the State while the number of buses arranged so far being few. It is learnt that desperate to make it a memorable show, meant to herald its campaign for election 2017, the leaders and the workers are trying to manage buses from Muzaffarnagar in UP.
Meanwhile, the State Government machinery has been thrown into an alert mode in anticipation of a massive turnout. The district administration has decided to restrict people’s movement in and around the Vidhan Sabha. The locals have been asked to complete their daily work before 10 am on Monday. The people have been asked to cooperate with the district administration to maintain law and order.
The State BJP president Ajay Bhatt said this gherao would mark the countdown of the end of Harish Rawat Government. “The people are fed up with the gimmickry of the State Government. The new budget is an attempt to sell dreams that would be unfulfilled on the ground,” he said.
Bhatt further said that the State Government estimating to spend Rs40,422 crore in the next one year is an instance of selling impracticable dreams. “In reality, seven to eight months are left before the election code of conduct would come into force,” he said.
Charging the ruling party with hypocrisy, Bhatt said that while the State Government is expecting to collect Rs18,131 crore, including Rs6,014 crore from the State share in the Central tax, they are lamenting over not getting funds from the Centre. Referring to organic farming and dairy development, Bhatt said that they are already thriving in the State.
Citing instances of the Centre generously funding projects in the State, he said that the Centre has given Rs1,057 crore for the electrification work in Uttarakhand. “This aside, many schemes named after Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya are operational here,” he said.
Stating that the State Government has been bungling with many of its flagship schemes like ‘Mere Buzurg Mere Teerth’, he said GMVN and KMVN have been desperately waiting to get their reimbursement from the State. “Funds being scanty, they are even unable to disburse salary to the employees,” Bhatt said.
Speaking of the ‘dismal’ State prevailing in the liquor trade, Bhatt said despite the State Government claiming to have changed Fl-2 to boost fruit- based winery industry, not a single winery unit has come up in the past one year.
He said the same would happen to the Mandua (millet) based winery industry to develop which by extensive research the Government had allocated Rs3 crore. “It seems that it is more eager to financially help the labs than to develop Mandua (millet)- based winery industry,” Bhatt said.