The warm response that the BJP received during the Satta Parivartan Yatra, clearly indicated that the party is very close to power in the state. Addressing a massive gathering assembled on conclusion of second phase of the Yatra in Haldwani, veteran BJP leader and former Union Minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi alleged that the Congress has ruined Uttaranchal and disappointed people of the state who are now looking for a change. The second phase of the Yatra concluded on December 25.
The Yatra touched all the 70 assembly constituencies of the state. In the first phase, it covered 1,400 km distance in Garhwal region while in the second phase it covered 1,333 km distance in Kumaun region. The Yatra left a good impression on the public mind.
Dr Joshi claimed that the BJP would win the assembly elections in Uttaranchal with a clear majority. He said the people now desperately want BJP'sreturn to power as there is total anarchy in the state. ?Congress ministers and Lal Batti holders are busy plundering the state'sresources. The Congress leaders are having a gala time while the masses suffer. The state has been pushed into a deep burden of debt,? he said accusing Chief Minister N.D.Tewari of wasting taxpayers? money by awarding top posts of various corporations to his loyalists to strengthen his position instead of carrying out economic development.
He lashed out at the Chief Minister for bringing Uttaranchal under the debt of Rs.18,000 crore. Referring to the issue of sky rocketing prices, he said the problem was very much under control as long as the Vajpayee led NDA government was at the Centre. But the prices of all commodities shot up manifold ever since the Congress came to power both at the Centre and in Uttaranchal.
Referring to the government'smove to rename the state as Uttarakhand, Dr Joshi said the move was aimed at wooing the voters. Had it not been so the Congress would have created Uttaranchal in the last 52 years when it ruled the country. It is the BJP, which created Uttaranchal after it came to power. He said the Tewari government is responsible for increasing crime rate and the fast rising unemployment graph in the state. From the frequency with which newspapers carry reports on crime that take place in this once peaceful state, it seems that it has become another Bihar.
Shri Ravishankar Prasad, BJP incharge of Uttaranchal, said the Tewari government has totally failed to fulfill its promises. Tewari government has been able to execute only about 30 per cent of the announcements made till date. State government made 2,500 announcements until December this year; it was able to implement only 782 of them.
Shri B.C. Khanduri criticised the Congress government for deteriorating law and order situation in the state, corruption and lack of development. Smt. Smriti Irani, noted actress, held the Chief Minister directly responsible for the road network in the state being in utterly bad shape. She said Uttaranchal is known as the holy land of gods and goddesses but it has become a hell due to crimes. State BJP President Bhagat Singh Koshyari called upon people to vote the Congress government out of power in the forthcoming elections. The rally was also addressed by Leader of Opposition Matbar Singh Kandari, Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Dr Mohan Singh Rawat ?Gramwasi? and Shri Ajay Bhatt, MLA.
