Ready to be CM if party wants: Kaushik

Sandeep Rawat

Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 18

Madan Kaushik, three-time Haridwar MLA, yesterday said he was ready to shoulder the responsibility of Chief Minister if the party gets majority in the upcoming Assembly elections.

Kaushik, who is vying for the fourth consecutive win, while talking to The Tribune at the office of Mayor Manoj Garg, said he won’t say no if he was asked to be Chief Minister as he had been state Minister for Urban Development and the Maha Kumbh (2010) in charge, besides holding various party organisation posts.

Asked about the allocation of ticket to family members of several leaders though Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s advise not to press for nomination to their kin, Kaushik said various factors were taken into account in this regard.

“Ritu Khanduri Bhushan (daughter of five-time Pauri Garhwal MP BC Khanduri), Sanjeev Arya (son of Yashpal Arya) and Vinod Kandari (son of six-time legislator Matbar Singh Kandari) have been given the ticket on the basis of their ability as they have the potential to win the elections,” said Kaushik, who won with record 28,000 votes in the 2002 Assembly elections.

The achievements in the past five years he claims include the construction of a polytechnic, city indoor and outdoor stadium, Kankhal-Latowali sewage scheme, Ranipur drainage solution through the central Amrut scheme, launch of piped natural gas supply and a compressed natural gas pipeline in Haridwar, recarpeting of inner city roads and regular water and power supply.

He said, “If elected once again, my priorities will be to build a government super-specialty hospital, parking lots, decongest traffic, provide employment opportunities to youths.”

Meanwhile, Kaushik prayed to the Ganga and offered milk to it at Har-ki-Pauri. Party office-bearers and supporters accompanied him.