In an interview with HT, Dhami also spoke on wide-ranging issues including Char Dham development, rising weather disasters, political slugfest over the Special Intensive Review (SIR) and controversy regarding Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s purification charge. Edited excerpts:
Ahead of crucial assembly elections in Uttarakhand, where the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) is set to lock horns with the Congress, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the Opposition party’s attempt to build a Dalit narrative with the Haldwani “purification” issue, has been busted, and nothing of that sort took place.
Despite CBI inquiry, the name of the VIP mentioned in the case has not been revealed. Elections are around the corner. How is the party and government gearing for it? Since Narendra Modi ji became PM, a lot of developmental works have taken place in Uttarakhand — developing all weather Char Dham road and Delhi-Dehradun expressway; setting up several medical colleges including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS); the Rishikesh Karanprayag railway line; and improvement in air services including expanded Dehradun airport. What is the government doing about it? The Pauri hotel receptionist (the woman who was murdered, after allegedly being sexually assaulted) case has been going on a long time. And the Congress is trying to make it an election issue. The Congress does not have any election issue in Uttarakhand and has no political strength left. The Congress is trying to build a fake narrative. The Congress tried to build a fake Dalit narrative in Haldwani, where during a rally by their national president (Mallikarjun Kharge) jihadi slogans were raised. This is not true. The cleaning was done by people including Dalits of the huge garbage left behind and for raising jihadi slogans at sacred Ramlila Grounds. In Pauri receptionist murder case, the Congress was again exposed for a fixed audio clip on the alleged VIP connection. The three accused were sentenced for life in jail and we have referred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as per request of the family. Now, CBI will reveal the truth.
The PM has also inaugurated winter pilgrimage in 2025 and is the first Prime Minister to visit the last Indian village, Mana, in Chamoli; he said it was India’s first village. The PM has visited Uttarakhand 28 times, which no other PM has done. A fact check of Rahul Gandhi’s Chhatron Ki Goonj programme in Pune revealed 13 lies. I want to tell him that over 100 persons have been arrested. We formed a Special Investigating Team (SIT), which submitted a 1,000 page charge-sheet.
Because of infrastructure works such as the Char Dham road, experts believe lot of ecological damage has happened. Because he was a Dalit, purification was done on the site later, the national president said in Rajya Sabha that.
When he came to Uttarakhand, he said no action has been taken against examination malpractices.
