Modi would do packaging of UK: Uma

DAINIK NATION BUREAU

On the last day of campaigning, Union minister Uma Bharti sought to tug at the heartstrings of the people of Uttarakhand, saying that  the state  is  unique in its heavenly beauty. PM Narendra Modi would do packaging of Uttarakhand and state would become prosperous if you elect BJP government here.

She has travelled more than 80 countries but she did not find beauty like Uttarakhand. This is the reason why the state has a tremendous tourism potential, still untapped. What is needed is smart   packaging. If you elect BJP Prime Minister Narendra Modi would take care of the packaging and it would do marvel as far as development of the state is concerned,” she said while addressing a press conference in Dehradun on Monday.

Dwelling on Namami Gange, she said that over the past 30 years, the Centre has spent a whopping Rs 4000 crore on cleansing the holy river. “But the reality is that  Ganga remains as polluted as it was   30 years ago. To better things, we have banned releasing of  even treated water into the river which is why the project  has got a bit delayed,” she said. She added in the same breath that some people were still dumping untreated water, using lack of monitoring.

Replying on the alleged step- brotherly treatment from the Centre with the government here being helmed by the Congress, the firebrand BJP leader said that things were so when the Congress-led UPA government was there at the Centre. “Now, the Centre being helmed by NDA, the scenario has undergone a sea- change with the Centre giving all the states their dues sans any politically motivated discrimination,” Bharti said.

Taking a dig at Congress, she said such discriminatory treatment on political grounds being inherent in Congress, they strove to go for a different course of binding all the states in a common bond of development, connecting the rivers coursing through several states. “People can hardly forget the fact that the UPA government    cancelled the coal allocation to states ruled by parties other than the Congress,” she said.

Projecting herself as pro- Uttarakhand, she said that while the char dham road projects were being given the final shape the Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari had empowered her to convene the meeting. “This is because of his remaining aware of my good connect with the people of Uttarakahnd and my passion for the state. A Congress MLA told me that with the proposed road bypassing Joshimath the place would suffer  I took the initiative to ensure one- way traffic through Joshimath. However, now Congress is blaming us, saying that it is wrong,”  she said.

Queried over her ministry banning rafting which attracts tourists, boosting employment, while striving to promote tourism in the state, she clarified that they had put a blanket ban on rafting altogether. “But we must see to it that the human waste is not dumped in the river. We have asked the companies controlling rafting to ensure that it does not happen,” she said.