Wednesday, 01 February 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Activists and opposition leaders slam Mahendra Bhatt for the comment
The statement of the Bharatiya Janata Party State president Mahendra Bhatt in which he had said that Maoist forces are active in the State and Joshimath has stirred up the hornet’s nest. The activists working in Joshimath and the political parties have slammed Bhatt for his statement.
CPI (ML) leader Indesh Maikhuri who is closely associated with the save Joshimath campaign of the local residents told The Pioneer that the people of Joshimath were complaining about the problem of land subsidence from last 14 months and had apprised the chief minister of the State and the state president of BJP Mahendra Bhatt but no heed was paid on their plight. He added that even now there is no clear picture on compensation and rehabilitation of the affected people and the statement of Bhatt is a clear attempt to divert the attention from the failure of the government. Maikhuri said that the Maoist affected areas of the country are defined by the union home ministry and there is no such area in Uttarakhand and if Bhatt knows something then he should inform the government and police. He said that it is the BJP which in the last seven- eight years has increased its cooperation and affinity with China. Maikhuri added that after the Galwan incident the trade with China increased and it was at 135 billion dollars in the year 2022.
The former Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Pritam Singh said that the residents of Joshimath are affected by the disaster and the statement of BJP president terming them Maoist is highly condemnable.
Terming the statement of Bhatt very serious, the chief spokesperson of Uttarakhand Congress, Garima Dasauni said that as per Bhatt Maoist forces are active in Joshimath which is a strategically important area. She said if Bhatt has evidence to corroborate his claim then it would be considered as a failure of the State government. She said, “By giving this statement Bhatt has put a question mark on his own government. If anti-national forces are active there then why is the government not taking any action?’’
Dasauni added that by giving the statement the BJP State president has given a message to the world that Uttarakhand is not safe which could provide a major blow to the tourism sector in the State and affect the upcoming Char Dham Yatra. Dasauni said that the statement of Bhatt is an insult to the people of Joshimath who are suffering from the land subsidence crisis. She alleged that the president of Uttarakhand BJP is trying to hide the failures of his government by giving such a statement.
The general secretary of the Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, Kamal Raturi said that the people of Joshimath are very angry at the statement of Bhatt. He said that the statement of Bhatt is an insult to the affected families of Joshimath.
The Uttarakhand Congress burned the effigy of BJP state president Bhatt in Joshimath and district headquarters of Chamoli district on Tuesday to protest his statement.
