PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
Uttarakhand Congress is considering the resignation of cabinet minister Prem Chand Aggarwal as its victory. The party has now trained its guns on the State BJP president Mahendra Bhatt and the Vidhan Sabha speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan for what it calls their attempts to shield Aggarwal.
The Pahad versus Maidan controversy started during the budget session of Vidhan Sabha when an agitated Parliamentary Affairs minister Aggarwal said that the issue should be discussed and in the heat of the moment uttered what triggered a wave of anger among the people of mountainous areas of the State. Congress MLA Lakhpat Singh Butola raised a strong protest on the issue in the Vidhan Sabha following which the speaker Khanduri reprimanded him. The Congress leaders joined the social organisations in demanding resignation of Aggarwal from the cabinet. Many leaders of the party attended the Gairsain march on the call given by the famous singer Narendra Singh Negi and some social organisations.
The Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Karan Mahara said resignation of Aggarwal is the victory of the people of mountainous areas, Terai and Jaunsar. He said that the chief minister Dhami should ask State BJP president Mahendra Bhatt to refrain from using the words such as Sadakchaap for those demanding resignation of Aggarwal.
Badrinath MLA Butola who hogged the limelight by raising the issue of insult of people of mountainous areas of the State inside the assembly said that the State government was in denial mode on the issue of use of foul language against people of mountainous areas but the resignation of Aggarwal shows that the government’s view was not right. He said that the government tested the patience of the people by the delay in resignation of the minister. Butola also questioned the silence of the ministers and BJP leaders on the issue.
The chief spokesperson of Uttarakhand Congress Garima Dasauni said that the resignation of Aggarwal is the victory of Uttarakhandiyat. She however added that the BJP should have taken action against the minister immediately after his controversial comment in the Vidhan Sabha.
