Lotus will bloom again in Uttarakhand: MoS Ajay Bhatt

By Arvind Malguri

New Delhi, Jan 10 (IANS) Lotus is going to bloom again in Uttarakhand on March 10 when votes will be counted, said Ajay Bhatt, MP and Union Minister of State for Defence and Tourism, in an exclusive conversation with IANS. He said the BJP will emerge victorious with even more number of seats than the party got in 2017, the last assembly elections.

Bhatt said that he has just come to the state to meet people and seeing their immense love, it looks no one is in the fight against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policy of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas'. The people have full faith in the Prime Minister and his development agenda.

Bhatt told IANS that with the coordination of the Centre, several public welfare schemes worth Rs 1 lakh crore are running in the state -- from the Char Dham roads to the Bharat Mala series. It was a dream of the people of Uttarakhand to go by rail to the mountains, which is being made possible only under the leadership of PM Modi. Apart from this, construction work is also going on in Kedarnath, he said.

"Ujjwala Yojana, Har Ghar Nal, Kisan Samman Nidhi, Ghasiyari Yojana, several such schemes have been implemented in the state. PM Modi has just given the gift of projects worth Rs 36,000 crore to Uttarakhand. I am sure the people of Uttarakhand will not disappoint 'Modi ji' in assembly elections and the lotus will bloom again. Let me tell you that all of us have tried our best in the interest of Uttarakhand," he said.

"Today the youth of Uttarakhand is with us, they are very intelligent and do not fall under any delusion. Uttarakhand has grown rapidly towards self-employment. The state has also given 24,000 government jobs. More opportunities in the government sector are being created. Our governments believe in talking less and working more", he added.

He said, "Let me tell you that the kind of respect the people of Uttarakhand got under PM Modi is unprecedented. Earlier, people were cheated by the previous governments, but this is the first government of PM Modi in 70 years, which has given the people of Uttarakhand the respect they really deserve."

Bhatt said that the government has passed a proposal to build a Sainik Dham, as a large number of soldiers come from the state. The work is going at a fast pace. We got the inspiration to build this Sainik Dham from PM Modi. The Chief Minister said that the party, which ruled the country for 70 years, has been insulting the army by demanding proof of surgical strikes and our government has been giving respect to soldiers.

Due to the special attachment with PM Modi of the people of the state, chants of 'Modi-Modi' can be heard in every household across the state. Keeping in mind the religious sentiments of the people, the government has abolished the Devasthanam Board as well, he said.

He said he is sad to see the pathetic situation of senior Congress leader like Harish Rawat. If Congress does not trust his leadership, then what will public think. He said that the false and issueless politics of the opposition will not work now.

"Our work is visible on the ground, people are very satisfied and happy with our government."

On the question of rift in the BJP, Bhatt said, everyone has a right to speak, everyone wants to serve the interest of the public and the party is engaged with that.