Indicating that he likes to leave the rancorous past behind while beginning his new innings as CM on Wednesday, Harish Rawat said that he would do everything possible to help the Centre successfully implement two of its monumental projects - Swachh Bharat and Swachh Ganga. “I am emotionally involved in them too. I would love to be an active partner in these two Central projects. I would seek an appointment with the Prime Minister soon,” he said. Besides, he said he would try his best to make up the loss the State has incurred due to the protracted political crisis continuing for around three months.
However, he was in no mood to spare the Centre the blame for the crisis the State landed in. Invoking Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, Rawat said that the Centre has chosen the time to murder the Constitution when the nation is engaged in celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of the architect of the Indian Constitution. “Nothing can be more macabre than this,” he said.
He said that development process had got stuck as the President’s Rule was imposed in March. “The timing is significant as it is in March that the pending works are cleared. Things dragged throughout April too. It is the month during which new planning is firmed up for the new financial year. It is unfortunate that we have lost both the crucial months embroiled as we were in the political turmoil,” he said.
He further said that though the State is a small one with a population of 1.25 crore the people’s expectation is not small. “It is huge rather. We must rise to the occasion to keep the people happy. The year being called as implementation year, we seek more and more cooperation from the Centre in taking the State ahead,” he said.
Thanking all, particularly the BSP chief Ms Mayawati, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, UKD and Independent MlAs for supporting him during the troubled time, he said he would keep them in grateful remembrance. More significantly, he conveyed his special thanks to BJP dissident MlA Bhimlal Arya who had sided with him at the floor test, defying the BJP whip.