Just a day before the Trivendra Singh Rawat Government completes its 100 days in office, the State PCC president Pritam Singh ripped into the BJP Government and castigated it for what he termed as its anti people policies. He said that the senior congress leaders had decided to give a time of six months to the BJP Government but its utter failure in all spheres has forced the party to speak up against its misdeeds. One of the first decisions the BJP Government took was to increase the price of food grains for distribution to poor under “Rajya Khaddya Yojana’. The price of wheat is raised to Rs 8.60 per kg from Rs 4 per kg and the rice is now provided to poor at Rs 15 per kg while in Congress regime its price was Rs 9 per kg, he informed. Singh charged the BJP Government for increasing the power, sever and drinking water tariff and bringing hardship to the people.
The State Congress President also came down heavily on the Government for its failure to keep its election promise of loan waiver and providing interest free loan for the farmers. He said that the farmers of the State are in very bad condition and recent suicides by two farmers in Berinag and Tehri prove it. The Congress leader attributed the current farmer’s unrest in different parts of the country on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election time promise of loan waiver for the farmers of Uttar Pradesh due to which farmers of other States also got agitated.
Blaming the State Government for poor management and utter neglect of Char Dham Yatra which is backbone of the economy of the State, the State congress President said that the Yatra is progressing on ‘Bhagwan Bharose (god’s mercy)’ as the pilgrims are finding hard to even get vehicles in Haridwar and Rishikesh for the Yatra. He said that due to poor health facility on Yatra route 31 pilgrims have so far lost their lives.
The Congress leader also tried to put the government in dock for its excise policy. “The Chief Minister had made an assurance that number of liquor shops would be gradually reduced but despite the widespread agitation led by women in different parts of state against liquor shops the government has increased the shops and has decided to start mobile vans selling liquor. In addition to it the Government has also opened sale of country liquor in five mountainous districts,’’ he said.
launching a diatribe against the state government, Singh said that law and order condition in the state is in very bad condition and it has reached to such a level that some BJP leaders are openly making extortion calls to traders. He also castigated the Trivendra Singh Rawat government for lack of coordination between its ministers. “Recently one of senior minister had termed Harish Rawat as a much better Chief Minister,’’ he quipped.
The State congress President termed the budget of the government as directionless and expressed dismay in the manner in which the lokayukt bill and transfer act were tabled in well of the house on last day of budget session.