Returning from the Congress State coordination committee meet along with Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay in New Delhi, Chief Minister Harish Rawat said here on Thursday that the party’s leadership had directed that all Congress leaders and party workers in Uttarakhand should work together and consolidate their organisational strength.
A series of short journeys will be conducted across the State in the month of September with main focus on raising public awareness on the welfare and developmental schemes of the State Government.
Further, the Congress cadre in Uttarakhand which appears to have remained in a ‘development’ mode will have to be brought into the election mode, said the Chief Minister.
The meeting of the Congress state coordination committee held in New Delhion Wednesday, was focused on assessing the currently political scenario of Uttarakhand especially in view of reemergence of differences between the chief minister and PCC president. Speaking at a Press conference in the Bijapur guest house on Thursday evening, the chief minister said that along with the PCC president Kishore Upadhyay, he had also met the Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. “At the meeting we presented our assessment of the scenario and developments taking place in Uttaraklhand. We presented information about the developmental aspects achieved by the State Government and about the organizational aspects of the Congress in the state,” he said.
Regarding BJP leader Satpal Maharaj accusing the chief minister of orchestrating improper land deals in Haridwar, the CM said that the allegation was linked to an internal strife in the BJP and also had some connection with the recent altercation between supporters of two BJP leaders in Haridwar. He said, “The BJP appears to be focused on digging up bones while the Congress party maintains a developmental stance. Considering the situation at the the time when I assumed the office of chief minister, my first priority had to be undertaking the work towards bringing the situation back to normal for developmental efforts rather than focus on alleged scams. In case of the various scams alleged by the BJP I believe that the system should take cognizance of any irregularity found in functioning of the establishment. The blame game which was sparked by the BJP leaders here is an attempt to deflect the public focus from developmental issues and achievements just like the BJP had done in 2007. I wonder what the level of politics is at present when I consider that the same person who had been repeatedly accused by the BJP of orchestrating disaster relief scam and other corruption for which he had to lose his position as chief minister, is now being accepted by the BJP,” said Rawat while referring to former CM Vijay Bahuguna without naming him. “Earlier the BJP leaders had made statements alleging that ‘setters’ calling the shots in the office of the chief minister had led to deterioration in the situation resulting in him losing office. Now the BJP leaders are accepting him and have made him a party spokesperson,” he said.
Earlier, Rawat recalled his recent meeting with Union Road Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi. He said State had requested Union minister to help expedite work on all weather roads to be developed in the state of Uttarakhand.