BJP will win 2017 Uttarakhand assembly polls: Ajay Bhatt

Dehradun, Jan 3: Accusing the Congress government of creating an "atmosphere of fear" in Uttarakhand, BJP today said it would dislodge the party from power by winning the 2017 assembly with a two-thirds majority.

Alleging that the Harish Rawat government had failed on all fronts, newly-elected state BJP president Ajay Bhatt in his maiden press conference after assuming charge said the party would intensify its stir over the alleged rape of a deaf and mute inmate at a government-run women's shelter home in Dehradun if the state government failed to recommend a CBI probe into the matter.

BJP Mahila Morcha would stage a month-long relay hunger strike from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's birth anniversary on January 23 in protest against the state government's alleged insensitivity in the episode, he said.

Bhatt said land and mining mafia were roaming around freely in the state and accused the state government of creating an atmosphere of fear in the state, adding he would launch a five-day yatra in the Kumaon belt to "unmask" the government.

"The Chief Minister is too busy picnicking in places like Gairsain and Kedarnath to attend to these problems," he said.

Accusing the state government of indulging in corruption, he said a helipad which could be built at a cost of Rs one crore was being constructed at a cost of Rs 12 crore.

The state government is currently constructing 50 helipads at different places to deal with an emergency in disaster-prone areas of the state.

Roads damaged or washed away in the 2013 flash floods which can be built at a cost of Rs 20 lakh are being constructed at a cost of Rs 7 crore, he alleged.

Similarly, toilets which can be built at a cost of Rs 5-7 lakh are being built at a cost of Rs one crore, Bhatt said.

Bhatt also accused the state government of failing to provide employment for the youth and alleged that there were currently 30 lakh unemployed persons in the state.

PTI