Dehra Dun: Identifying corruption as the
poll plank in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand, Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi on saturday said that the state had failed to utilise Central
funds meant for development and accused the state government
of "stealing" the money meant for the poor.
Launching his party's campaign in the poll-bound state,
Rahul took pot shots at both former chief ministers Ramesh
Pokhriyal Nishank, who was asked to quit by the BJP to salvage
the party's image, and his successor B C Khanduri.
He appealed to the people to dislodge the BJP government
if they wanted benefits of Central schemes, meant for poverty
alleviation and employment generation, to reach the needy.
"The Centre gave money to Uttarakhand for various schemes.
But the money was stolen," he said at a rally at Parade Ground
here.
Money for MNERGA, Kumbh and various schemes was syphoned
off, Rahul said, adding that this money was meant for the
common man and not to be mis-utilised by the state government.
He also alleged corruption in allotment of Hydro Electric
Power Projects in the state. "17 Hydro Electric Power Projects
were allotted to a company and there was huge scam in it," he
alleged.
After spending considerable time to woo voters in Uttar
Pradesh, Rahul turned to neighbouring Uttrakahand today, where
elections are due early next year.
He highlighted several land grabbing cases and corruption
in mining in course of his speech here.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, December 24, 2011, 00:36