Zee Media Bureau
Dehradun: Accusing the Congress government in Uttarakhand of inaction during recent floods, Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said the Vijay Bahuguna government could have better handled the rescue operations.
The Vijay Bahuguna government in the hill state and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) drew serious flak from the Gujarat Chief Minister as he targeted their style of governance.
“Be it Delhi or Dehradun, these are people oblivious of the reality,” Modi said.
Modi also blamed the Bahuguna government of being "callous" as it did not allow him to visit affected areas and "share the pain" of disaster victims when he visited the state during June.
"I came running to Uttarakhand to share the pain of the victims of the unprecedented tragedy but political callousness came in my way, I was not allowed to visit the affected areas," he said.
"Politics should be a means to bail out people in times of crisis and not to deepen their pain. When Kucch was hit by an earthquake I accepted help from every possible quarter including even Pakistan," he said.
Addressing a BJP rally here, Modi accused the Bahuguna government of plotting against yoga guru Baba Ramdev, and said, “The energy they are investing against Baba Ramdev, if they put even half that towards victims of the Uttarakhand floods things would be different.”
The BJP leader was making an oblique reference to 96 cases of alleged gross violation of land laws and stamp duty evasion lodged in quick succession against the yoga guru by Bahuguna government recently.
“One Baba Ramdev is taking all people along together, but that is troubling the Congress. Every day they file some or the other new case against him. Is this democracy,” he asked.
Continuing in the same vein, he said the state wasn’t doing enough for the people of the flood-hit regions and instead indulging in ‘target practice.’ He said, “We (BJP) had CMs here in Uttarakhand. Did any of them trouble the Congress? Is this the way? We are thankful to Atal (Bihari Vajpayee) ji — he gave us Uttarakhand and that time Rajnath Singh was CM (of Uttar Pradesh from which Uttarakhand was carved). Shasan me koi apna aur paraya nahi hota...sab humare hote hain (Everyone should be equal in the eyes of a ruler).”
The state that has earned the tag of being the ‘Devbhoomi’(land of Gods) earned a special title from the three-time Gujarat CM. “We talk of SEZ (Special Economic Zone) but Uttarakhand is SEZ for years. It is ‘spiritual environment zone’,” he said.
The results in the recently held assembly elections in five states had showed that the people were voting the Congress out of power, he said and added, “Results of five states are out and it is clear which way the wind is blowing. It is beginning of ‘Congress mukt Bharat’.”
Asking the people of Uttarakhand to entrust BJP with their support, Modi said, “Prayog bahut kiye, ek baar bharosa kar leejiye. You’ve experimented with a lot many parties, now entrust your faith in the BJP. Please trust BJP, your dreams will be our efforts.”
Asking people to stop experimenting with new governments, he said lack of political stability had caused Uttarakhand and Jharkhand to lag behind Chhattisgarh, which stuck to BJP rule for years and is now on way to coming on a par with the most developed states in the country.
"I think though created together, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand are way behind Chhattisgarh when it comes to development. You changed many governments and many leaders. My suggestion is to you to stop experimenting now and have faith in the BJP. Things are bound to change," he said.
He said there was lot of water in the hills but still there was darkness in the country.
"There is so much water in the hills but the nation is in darkness. What is the reason behind it? We can generate power through water in the mountains, but these people have no time," he said.
The youth of the hill state was suffering due to lack of development, said Modi.
"The youth of Uttarakhand is leaving because of lack of opportunities. There is scope for tourism but no growth," he said.
"They want people to remain poor, so their governments can go on," he said.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made BJP`s rally with over 600 security personnel to keep a vigil in and around the city.
