Former Uttarakhand chief minister and senior Congress leader Harish Rawat has accused the BJP government in the state of ‘doing nothing’ for the development of the summer capital Gairsain, 260 east of Dehradun.
Rawat who visited Gairsain in Chamoli district on Sunday along with his supporters taunted chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat for going slow on the new capital.
They raised slogans in Garhwali dialect saying ‘Trivendra Singh Bhaiji Kakh Cha Tumhri Grishmakalin Sarkar’ (Brother Trivendra Singh where is your summertime government here).
Harish Rawat who visited the Assembly building in Gairsain and other residential establishments, attacked the BJP government saying, “After about three and a half years of this government, not a single new brick has been laid for any construction here. All existing construction was done during my government.”
Gairsain was declared the state summer capital by CM Trivendra Singh Rawat during the budget session on March 4 amid intense politicking between BJP and the opposition Congress.
Rawat said, “No new project has been approved by this government. Work is being done in all those projects which were approved during our government. Their announcement of the state summer capital just seems to be on the paper with nothing to see on the ground for any development pertaining to it ….One can see all sorts of signboards here but not a single one stating that this is the state summer capital.”
The former chief minister accused the government of dragging its feet over actually shifting to the new summer capital.
“Three months have passed since the summer started but not a single minister or secretary from the secretariat has moved here which can signify that the government is unwilling to shift here as per its promise. This is an insult of Gairsain as well as Uttarakhand,” said Rawat.
“We have already said we will make it the permanent capital of Uttarakhand if our party comes to power in next Assembly elections.”
The BJP termed Rawat’s visit as a mere ‘political gimmick to grab media attention.’
BJP state vice president Devendra Bhasin said, “Rawat has been a master of misleading people and doing irrelevant politics. This Gairsain visit is a part of that only. He just wants to be in the media with such acts.”
Bhasin also said that “Rawat should answer that if he is so worried about Gairsain then why didn’t he declare it the summer capital or capital during his tenure? He is just pretending to show affection for Gairsain now.”
