Khanduri, Nishank, other BJP leaders court arrest

Dehradun, June 22
Several BJP leaders led by former Chief Minister BC Khanduri courted arrest at the office of the District Magistrate here today as part of the jail bharo andalon against inflation, including recent hike in petrol prices. Former Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Harbans Kapoor, general secretary and in-charge of Uttarakhand affairs Thawar Chand Gehlot and president of the city unit of the party Puneet Mittal were among other leaders to have courted arrest. They were, however, later released.

Former Chief Minister BC Khanduri being taken away in a police van in Dehradun on Friday; and (right) BJP leaders, including Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, being arrested by the police in Haridwar.

Earlier addressing the party workers at the BJP office in the city, Mittal said the UPA government at the Centre had failed to control prices of essential commodities. “The prices of vegetables, cereals and pulses are shooting like never before, so much so that they are beyond the reach of the common man. The unjustified hike in petrol price has worsened the situation,” he said.

He added the fall in rupee against dollar had dented the image of India as an emerging super power. “Most of the UPA government rule has been spent in inaction and corruption,” he said.

Kapoor criticised the state government for failing to provide relief to the people of Uttarakhand who were facing power and water shortage. “Instead of finding a solution to the problems of the people, the Bahuguna government is engaged in the blatant sale and purchase of BJP MLAs. After the gram pradhan of the Shaktifarm exposed the machinations of the Congress leaders, the Bahuguna government was needlessly targeting BJP workers,” said BJP leader Suman Kant Dhyani.

Later the BJP leaders and workers held a procession that passed through Rajpur Road, Paltan Bazaar and culminated at the District Collectorate office.

It proved to be a harrowing time for commuters who were caught in traffic jams in sweltering heat on the busy Rajpur Road. Long queues of vehicles blocked the parade ground in the morning.

However, the Congress leaders said the protest by the BJP was unjustified as the state government had already provided relief to the people by waiving VAT on petrol.

HARIDWAR: As part of the jail bharo andolan of the BJP in the state, a large number of BJP activists courted arrest at the tehsil office here on Friday.

Led by former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank a protest was held on the tehsil office premises against anti-poor policies of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre.

Addressing the protesters, Nishank lashed out at the UPA government saying it was a bunch of self-centered parties the prime motive of which was to safeguard their political interests and accumulate money from companies.

Nishank referred to 2-G, Commonwealth and Adarsh Society scams and the controversy surrounding the former Army General and the failure of the UPA government to control inflation. He said the Congress-led government had failed miserably on all fronts and had led the country to anarchy.

He said the Central government had performed poorly on the economic front despite eminent economist Manmohan Singh being the Prime Minister of the country.

“This UPA government under Manmohan Singh is no match to the NDA government led by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. While the BJP-led NDA government controlled inflation, brought many pro-poor schemes and implemented them with clarity, the UPA government is least concerned about the common man. The time has come for BJP workers to work hard to take this message to voters so that the party could return to power in the 2014 parliamentary elections and address the problems of the people,” said Nishank while leading the party activists.

District BJP unit president Sushil Chauhan also criticised the Uttarakhand government led by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna saying its 100 days in power had been 100 days in ‘dilemma’.

He termed the horse-trading of former BJP legislator from Sitarganj Kiran Mandal as a low in politics in the 12 years of the formation of separate state of Uttarakhand. This was being done to garner a majority in the state Assembly and ensure Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna got a vacant Assembly seat as his party legislators were not willing to leave a seat for him.

Poonam Jha, state secretary of the Mahila Morcha, said crime in Haridwar had increased at an alarming rate since the Congress came into power. This was not the case when the BJP government under BC Khanduri and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank was in power.