Taking on BJP on corruption issue, Sonia Gandhi today said the party was forced to change its chief minister in Uttarakhand following graft allegations and accused it of "creating a wedge" between the hills and the plains.
The BJP is responsible for widespread corruption in every nook and corner of the state. It was due to corruption that BJP was forced to change its Chief Minister," the Congress President said in her second election rally in the hill state in the run-up to the January 30 Assembly polls.
Chief Minister B S Khanduri took over as chief minister from Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank in September last year in an apparent move by BJP to lift its sagging image following graft allegations against the government.
"...Through its discriminatory policies, the BJP government is creating a wedge between the plains and the hilly areas of the state," Gandhi alleged.
Claiming that Khanduri government is not providing adequate electricity to the hilly areas of the state, she said, "Only 13% of the total electricity is being made available to the hilly districts."
"Does the BJP government believe that people living in the hilly areas can manage only with the sun and the moon?," Gandhi asked.
She pointed out that the BJP had promised that it would provide electricity to each and every village of the state.
"Did it really happen? It certainly did not happen," she said.
She also accused the state government of stalling the industrialisation process. "New industrial units were not set up. And those which were already set up are being destroyed," she said.
Gandhi also took a dig at Samajwadi Party as its manifesto released yesterday promised a laptop to students.
"Just have a look at their manifesto for the previous assembly election. Proficiency in computer and English was declared a taboo by the party leadership then."
He said, "Interestingly, this was the party's stand despite the fact that Mulayam Singh Yadav's son Akhilesh is fond of these symbols of modernity. It seems the party has taken an U-turn in 2012 and come up with promises which it will never be able to fulfil." Gandhi also alleged that the state witnessed a spurt in criminal activities during SP regime. "Whenever SP comes to power, the Goonda element control police station," he added.
Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma, AICC General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi and state unit chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi were among senior party members present in the public meeting.
After addressing the rally, Gandhi flew off to Sonebhadra district where he is expected to address the last rally of his ongoing phase of electioneering in the state.
