Uttarakhand BJP accuses Congress of being 'anti-development', says party should put progress over politics

Dehradun: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttarakhand on Tuesday accused the Congress of being “anti-development”, days after a leader of the opposition party alleged that the state government was wasting money by holding roadshows in different cities across the country and abroad in preparation for an investor’s summit. [caption id=“attachment_5113301” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Trivendra Singh Rawat[/caption] Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat was in Singapore on Monday to invite investors to participate in the summit to be held here on 7 and 8 October, which would be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. State BJP’s media head Devendra Bhasin said on Tuesday, “A responsible party like Congress should have placed development over politics and seen some positivity in the chief minister’s efforts to bring investors to the state.” “Negative remarks of Congress leaders about the upcoming summit shows they are anti-development,” he said. Accusing the Congress of doing nothing for Uttarakhand when in power, Bhasin claimed all the industrialisation in the state took place because of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who gave it a special category status and an industrial package soon after its creation. “Vajpayee always generously helped the state to grow without ever caring that it was a Congress-ruled state at that time. That shows the BJP has always placed development over politics,” he said. Senior Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana had recently accused the state government of blowing away lots of money over holding roadshows in different cities in the country and abroad in the name of preparing for the summit. “At a time when the people of the state are battling the effects of heavy rains, the chief minister and his officials are spending crores on foreign visits in the name of investors’ summit,” he had said.