Congress still eyeing BJP MLAs: Nishank

Haridwar, June 22
Former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today claimed that the Congress was still eying BJP legislators and trying to lure them by offering money or other illegal means as it had done in the case of former BJP legislator from Sitarganj Kiran Mandal.

Nishank was speaking to mediapersons at the state guest house near the Ganga canal at Damkoti here. He said it was the lowest ebb in the state politics as state Cabinet ministers were applying all illegal measures to lure opposition legislators so that the Congress could reach the majority mark of 36 in the Uttarakhand Assembly.

NIshank defended the induction of the then Congress legislator from Dhumakot, Pauri Garhwal, Tej Pal Singh Rawat, into the BJP and said the cases of TPS Rawat and Kiran Mandal were different as Rawat had resigned from the Congress owing to his disenchantment with the polices of the party while Mandal defected to the Congress for the sake of money and assurance of landownership rights to Bengali migrants.

Nishank, MLA from the Doiwala, also criticised Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna for declaring many cities, including Haridwar, as power-cut free zones and said making lofty claims should also go with ground work. He cited a power cut during his press conference at the state guest house to stress the point.

Asked about the projection of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as a probable Prime Ministerial candidate by the BJP, he said as soon as the party high command took a decision every one would get to know. He, however, refused to comment on a debate on Modi’s ‘secular’ credentials started by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Nishank also denied that there was factionalism in the BJP both at the national and state levels. He said as it was a national party the family was growing with thousands joining it regularly. Hence, conflict of ideas or interests was bound to be there but it did not mean that there was factionalism in the party.