Alliance like Mahagathbandhan needed in UP: Harish Rawat

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat today termed the success of Grand Alliance in Bihar polls as the "victory of secularism and propagators of development" and said that an alliance like Mahagathbandhan is needed in Uttar Pradesh, which goes to poll in 2017.
The Chief Minister said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had initiated the process of formation of Mahagathbandhan in Bihar which resulted in the big victory for the alliance in the state.
Congratulating RJD Supremo Lalu Yadav and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar for their victory in Bihar Assembly polls, he requested them to form a similar 'Mahagathbandhan' in Uttar Pradesh so that the state could make progress.

Speaking to the reporters here, he said that if UP progresses, his state Uttarakhand will also benefit from it.
Replying to question about alteration in the funding pattern (to state by the Centre), the Chief Minister said his state's Chief Secretary has not received any official communication to this effect.
However, if the Central government has taken any decision in this regard, then the Prime Minister should be thanked for that.

He expressed hopes that his state will keep receiving aids as it were getting before even if there was a change in funding pattern.
He also said he would meet Narendra Modi and thank him for the decisions Centre has taken for the benefit of the state.

He appealed to the BJP leaders and MPs not to indulge in "negative politics" and raise state's issues to Centre effectively.
Earlier in the day, Rawat stopped his convoy and had tea at a roadside stall here and indulged in consultations with State Finance Minister Amit Negi over increasing state revenue.
During the discussion, the Chief Minister stressed that fruits of development should reach the grass-root level for which all government departments would be asked to submit roadmap to achieve this goal, an official release stated here.