Rawat lashes out at BJP for fielding turncoats

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 17

The Chief Minister Harish Rawat today said the Uttarakhand Congress is now “neat and clean.” He was reacting to the sudden exit of state Revenue Minister Yashpal Arya from the Congress to the BJP fold. He accused the BJP of resorting to family politics, which is “evident in the saffron party’s list of candidates for Assembly elections” released yesterday.

Rawat addressed a press conference at the state Congress headquarters here today. He said, “The scams the BJP has been speaking about are related to the departments of those ministers who have now joined the BJP. Thus, the Congress has emerged as a clean political organisation. The BJP had disrupted the Assembly session for nearly 12 days over the alleged disaster relief scam, and now the individual (Vijay Bahuguna), who was then targeted, is among the think tank of the BJP.”

The Chief Minister also reminded the BJP of its slogan in 2013 wherein it stated ‘Jab say aaye Bahuguna, bhrashtachar badha sauguna (With Bahuguna at the helm of affairs in Uttarakhand, corruption has risen a hundred times)’.

Similarly, the BJP had also disrupted the House proceedings over the issue of polyhouse, mining and land scams and now all those concerned Congress ministers have shifted to the BJP so the saffron party owes a reply to the people, he said. “I greet the BJP high command for giving ticket to all turncoats,” Rawat said.

According to Rawat, the BJP pledged 10 days ago not to promote families in its list of candidates, but what it did was just an opposite of that.

When asked if the Congress would induct those BJP leaders who are unhappy with the saffron party’s first list of candidates, Chief Minister Harish Rawat said induction, if any, would be strictly on the basis of merit. He appealed to people to support the Congress.

State Congress president Kishore Upadhyay described Yashpal Arya as a “greedy” person. “The Congress gave it all to Yashpal Arya, but he wanted more wealth and ticket for his son. This made him go to the BJP,” he added.