‘BJP trying to lure voters with cash, liquor', alleges ex-Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat

Rawat said nobody in the party had any objections to his name as the chief ministerial candidate. He added that the CM face will be decided by the party.

(Credits: PTI)

New Delhi: Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has distributed cash and liquor to entice voters in the state. Rawat said that his party (Congress) has also filed a complaint with the Election Commission regarding the same.

"The BJP is trying to rig the polls. The chief minister and his MLAs have been caught on camera distributing money. The videos are now viral. There was information that Rs 100 crore has been sent from Delhi to Uttarakhand,” Rawat said. 

"If the Election Commission takes cognisance of the complaint, then more than a dozen candidates of the BJP will be disqualified," he said.

Rawat also dismissed the rumors of in-fighting within the party and said, "We are united and we will remain united."

Congress veteran and party campaign in-charge for Uttarakhand Harish Rawat said nobody in the party had any objections to his name as the chief ministerial candidate. He also said that the CM face will be decided by the party. 

Additionally, Rawat hit back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his controversial comment. Union Home Minister in Raipur rally on Saturday said the Congress is unable to decide the role of Harish Rawat in the coming state Assembly elections and said that Rawat’s situation was similar to ‘dhobi ka… na ghar ka na ghaat ka’. 

“Ye bechare Harish Rawat ko neta banayenge, nahi banayenge, banayenge, nahi banayenge, ticket denge, nahi denge, yahan se denge, wahan se denge (The Congress cannot decide whether to make Harish Rawat their leader or not, whether to give him a ticket or not, and from where)… “Yeh dhobi ka… aage nahi bolna chahta… na ghar ka ghaat ka,” said Shah.

Rawat said, “Home Minister Amit Shah has called me a dog, the people are watching. I consider the dog to be the form of Bhairava.” 

Earlier, Rawat also took it to Twitter and wrote, “Your words have shown the low mentality of BJP for people of Uttarakhand… I will do whatever I need for the security of Uttarakhand and Uttarakha-ndiyat.”

Rawat also said that the people of Uttarakhand know that we (Congress) are their capital and urged the public to exercise their right to vote boldly. 

Rawat also highlighted that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is comparatively new to the hilly state and currently needs to understand Uttarakhand right now.