All Cong MLAs to get ticket for Assembly poll: Rawat

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 28

Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat today said all Congress MLAs would get the party ticket for the upcoming Assembly elections.

Rawat, while addressing a press conference here, said the BJP was making all efforts to allure Congress MLAs but its efforts had failed due to unity in the party. He sought security for the MLAs saying that there was a high threat perception to them.

Rawat said the Progressive Democratic Alliance (PDA) members were their strong partners and they would be taken into confidence. The former Chief Minister said the Congress was open to options that were part of the democratic process.

“I have already stated that in case I win the floor test, I will continue to work for the betterment of the state. If it is otherwise, I will still continue to do good work for the state,” Rawat said.

He added the BJP was using every trick to try to allure Congress MLAs. The state BJP, which was swearing in the name of honesty, should clarify their relationship with the nine Congress rebel MLAs. Surendra Kumar, media in charge to the former Chief Minister, was present on the occasion.

Declare Uttarakhand fire-affected: Ex-CM

Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat has demanded that Uttarakhand be declared as a fire-affected state.

Several cases of forest fires have been reported in the state. In a letter to Governor KK Paul, Harish Rawat also demanded prompt action to deal with such incidents.

Rawat said the forest fires needed to be checked at the earliest otherwise its repercussions would be felt for several years. He said smaller water bodies were getting dried up fast due to forest fires. “Victims of forest fires must be given compensation at par with government employees. Rain fed agriculture in the state should be declared drought affected. If forest fires are not dealt on a war footing, the situation can exacerbate as peak summer months of May and June are yet to come,” he said.

The former Chief Minister said his government had planned to construct 2,000 water bodies in forests but only 500 could come up as the Centre failed to provide adequate budget.

Uttarakhand Congress president Kishore Upadhyay also appealed to the party workers across the state to actively work towards dousing forest fires. He said forest fires were a big threat to biodiversity of the region and thus it was important to ensure that forest fires were doused at the earliest.

Updhayay also wrote letters to state Congress executive office bearers asking them to promptly work towards dousing forest fires ranging inthe state.