Training his guns on the then BJP Government in the State, Chief Minister Harish Rawat said the BJP had kept him at bay during the Kumbha Mela-2010 despite the fact that he was then the elected Member of Parliament from Haridwar constituency.
“I took pains as the Union Minister to pump in an enormous amount of money from the Centre’s coffers to make the momentous religious congregation a memorable one. However, the incumbent Government by a diabolical design left me in the cold, showing not even a shred of respect to the post I was then holding. I was not invited at its inauguration. This is what can be termed as vicious vendetta. But, as the Chief Minister of the State, I would not ape them. I would instead bring them all on board with the respect they deserve as the representatives of the people in tandem with the canons of democracy,” the CM said.
He reiterated that being a Union Cabinet Minister, he had striven hard to have funds required for Uttarakhand to keep up with Kumbha Mela preparation sanctioned on time. “But the incumbent Government chose to play sectarian politics,” he said.