Tuesday, 27 AUGUST 2024 | PNS | HALDWANI
Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Harish Rawat claimed that had his term in office not been sabotaged by Vijay Bahuguna and other then Congress leaders who defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Gairsain would have been accorded the status of a permanent State capital by now. Rawat said that the Congress government had also drafted various schemes for the development of Gairsain. He said this after reaching the Congress office in Haldwani on Monday. Talking to the media after his arrival, the former CM also questioned the State government regarding the urban local body elections. He said that sending the matter to the select committee after it was passed in the Assembly is against constitutional practice. Rawat alleged that this clearly shows that the BJP government is afraid of holding local body elections at this point of time. He said that the State government should call a one-day special session of the Vidhan Sabha and ensure that the local body elections are held as early as possible. Referring to Union Home minister Amit Shah criticising the alliance between the Congress and National Conference, he said that the BJP itself had entered into an alliance with the PDP after which terrorism escalated in Jammu and Kashmir. Rawat claimed that the people will elect the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir, and Haryana in the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections. Leader of opposition in the Assembly, Yashpal Arya, Haldwani MLA Sumit Hridayesh and other senior party leaders were also present on the occasion.
