'Cong will develop Uttarakhand as a model state'

Haridwar, Feb 17: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today promised the people of Uttarakhand that the Congress would transform the hill state into a ''model state'', if it was voted back to power.

''The Congress government in Uttarakhand had put the hill state straight on the road of development and had ushered in an era of unprecedented progress and prosperity,'' he said, addressing an election rally at Roorkee this afternoon.

Lauding the achievements of the N D Tiwari government in the state, Dr Singh said ''big strides'' had been taken in every field, particularly in power generation, industrialisation, employment generation, construction of roads, improving education and health facilities, providing drinking water and giving a boost to tourism.

Mr Tiwari was also present on the occasion.

Stressing that the co-ordination between the state government and the central government had accelerated the pace of development in the state, the Prime Minister appealed to the people to bring the Congress to power again, if the present momentum of development was to be continued and Uttarakhand was to be developed as a model state in the country.

''The state needs a government which believes in peace and prosperity and which, rising above religious bigotry, has the capacity to take the people of all the sections with it. Only the Congress can provide such a government,'' he asserted.

Putting the BJP in the dock, the Prime Minister said that during two years of its government after the creation of the state, there had been no development in the state nor there had been any improvement in the quality of life of the people. ''There was nothing like economic development and administration,'' he said, adding this was why the people had dislodged the BJP government in the state five years ago.

UNI