Buoyed by the Congress candidate Pradeep Tamta winning the solitary Rajya Sabha seat from Uttarakhand hands down sans a single instance of cross-voting on Saturday, Chief Minister Harish Rawat said that it was a victory of the democratically minded people of Uttarakhand.
He further said it was a victory for the Dalit community too as a Dalit being elected would serve the State from the Upper House of the Parliament for the first time in its history. “I heartily thank all the Congress and PDF MlAs for taking the saffron challenge head-on and showing that they cannot be won over by the dangling of power and money that BJP enjoys thanks to its being the ruling party at the Centre,” he said. Tearing into BJP, he said that un-chastened by the May 10 floor test debacle, they had again tried to engineer horse-trading to defeat their candidate. “Happily for the state, they have cut a sorry figure again,” he said.
All praise for Pradeep Tamta, one of his staunchest loyalists, Rawat said that he would prove himself as a competent MP in the Upper House of the Parliament. “He would definitely rise up to the challenge and would prove as an invincible champion of the interests of the hill state. His vast and long experiences would come in good stead. I am sure he would vociferously raise the issues confronting the state with full dedication for the next six years,” CM said.
Taking a dig at BJP, he said that the party had better take lessons from the election result and refrain from its continuing attempts to destabilize the democratically elected government. “I hope that the NDA government would nudge the BJP state unit to steer clear of the futile destabilising moves,” CM said.
He did not spare the Centre either, saying that they are road-blocking several developmental projects the state government has envisaged. “They should shed such hostile mindset and partner with the state government in taking the state ahead. However, if they continue to stonewall things the intelligent people of Uttarakhand would make them bite the dust at the next round of hustings that are drawing near,” Rawat said.
He also thanked AICC president Sonia Gandhi, vice- president Rahul Gandhi and other senior party leaders like Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni and Mukul Wasnik ‘for their kind support and guidance in steering the party to victory in the RS election’.