By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 30 Oct: The BJP has hit back at the allegations levelled by the Congress regarding delay in holding of civic elections in the state. Speaking to media persons at the State Party Headquarters here, today, BJP State Chief Mahendra Bhatt claimed that those who could never manage to hold civic elections on time while in power are now indulging in politics over the delay. Bhatt claimed that some compulsions regarding the procedures like revision of the electoral rolls had delayed the civic elections in the state. Bhatt added that, before commenting on the BJP organisation, the Congress should work on strengthening its state team.
Mahendra Bhatt affirmed that, earlier, there were only 60 urban local bodies in the state, while currently there are 103 municipal bodies in the state. This expansion also requires delimitation and expansion of the geographic locations of the urban local bodies, which is a massive exercise. It takes time to demarcate the rural and the urban areas on a large scale. Following this, it is also necessary to complete the process of preparation of reservation status and revise voters’ lists. He targeted the Congress for always delaying the civic elections by 6 months despite favourable conditions during its governments. And, now, despite knowing the compulsions of the process, the Congress is doing politics on the issue.
Answering the question regarding organisational structures of the BJP and Congress, Bhatt claimed that, to create an organisation like the BJP, Congress needs long ideological commitment and effort. Responding to Congress allegations regarding Bageshwar Dham’s Dhirendra Shastri, who is scheduled to hold a public programme in Dehradun on 4 November, Bhatt wondered why that party had a problem or issue with any sage or spiritual guru related to Sanatan Dharma. He said that Congress has no reason to oppose the visit of Dhirendra Shastri to Uttarakhand and reminded that, individually, many senior Congress leaders also seek blessings from him and the other gurus. BJP, on the other hand, welcomes all religious and spiritual leaders to Uttarakhand without any discrimination.
