Citing a statement attributed to a State cabinet minister of the Congress’ alliance partner Progressive Democratic Front (PDF), the Bharatiya Janata Party State chief Ajay Bhatt said that the Congress party is being viewed as a “sinking ship” with its leaders and their supporters preferring to abandon ship and join the BJP to survive. Expressing confidence on the chances of the BJP in the Vidhan Sabha elections slated for 2017, Bhatt challenged chief minister Harish Rawat to name the Vidhan Sabha constituency of his choice and the BJP will then consider fielding the most-suited candidate out of the 10 ex-MlAs of the Congress now in the BJP from the constituency chosen by him. Apart from this, to protest against the rampant level of corruption and the failure of the Congress-led State Government to deliver, the BJP will launch its Parivartan Yatra in the presence of the BJP national president Amit Shah onNovember 12.
Shah will address the public at Almora on the inaugural day, after which the party’s national president is also slated to address similar public rallies in Dehradun onNovember 13 and on December 7 at Haldwani where the Parivartan Yatra is slated to conclude.
Addressing the media, Bhatt said that the Parivartan Yatra will cover thousands of kilometres in Garhwal and Kumaon regions of Uttarakhand in stages, with the aim of raising public awareness on the the “high level of corruption” in functioning of the Congress-led State Government and the various developmental and other positive aspects the BJP has to offer instead if elected to form government in the coming Vidhan Sabha elections.
He averred that apart from heightened corruption, the number of registered unemployed persons in Uttarakhand had crossed the 30 lakh figure, reflecting the reality being faced in the state.
Apart from Shah, a number of national-level party leaders are also slated to address the public during the Parivartan Yatra in Uttarakhand though the confirmation from the leaders concerned is still awaited. The decision to be taken on where the prominent leaders will address the rally will be decided at a later date, added Bhatt.
He said, “The Congress is in such a dire condition in Uttarakhand, that even one of the state cabinet ministers of the alliance partner PDF- Dinesh Dhanai was quoted in the media as stating that he would not contest the coming Vidhan Sabha election on the Congress ticket while comparing the Congress to a sinking ship. Apart from the 10 ex-MlAs who left the Congress to join the BJP, more leaders and their supporters are also likely to abandon the Congress and join the BJP in the coming days,”said Bhatt.
The BJP state chief said that apart from exposing the debilitated condition of the “corruption-riddled Congress-led State Government”, the BJP rally will also focus on informing the people about what the BJP has to offer for resolving various issues pertaining to health, education, employment, tourism and other important issues where the Congress has purportedly failed.