While BJP holds Investors’ Summit, Congress sits on protest dharna on Rafale issue in Dehradun

While the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party government of Uttarakhand was busy in the Uttarakhand’s investor Summit today with the prime minister Narendra Modi being the chief guest and addressing the corporates leaders from India and abroad in the state capital Uttarakhand highlighting the achievements of his governments at the centre and the state alongwith the state’s CM Trivendra Singh Rawat, the main opposition party of the state led by its president n former minister Pritam Singh alongwith hundreds of Congress workers and local leaders were busy sitting on a Dharna and protest demonstration at Gandhi Maidaan, expressing their antagonism against the ruling political dispensations at the centre and state on the controvertial Rafale deal as well as on inflation n the sky rocketting prices of petrol, diesal and LPG cylinders.

However due to the entire media having been involved in the coverage of the prime minister and the foreign and Indian entrepreneurs, including the ambassadors and high commissioners of foreign countries present in the summit, the Congress’s Dharna could get little coverage by the national media.

Rather it got crushed or diluted under the influence of the prime ministers high profile visit. But despite all this the sit in was a grand success with the Congress workers and leaders participating in it in large numbers. While thanking the Congress workers for making this protest demonstration a grand success and historic the state Congress president castigated the ruling party government for the controvertial and arbitrary Rafale deal, inflation, banking frauds, increase in the prises of petro products and increasing unemployment in the state and the country. The workers were holding playcards denouncing the prime minister and the union government as well as the central government for its anti people policies and all the ills leading to peoples’ sufferings on various fronts after the implementation of demonetisation as well as GST and other issues that had plagued the state of Uttarakhand and its people on the employment, liquor, inflation and other important fronts.

It may be recalled that the Congress Working Committee has made the Rafale, banking frauds and inflation as the main election planks for the 2019 general elections to castigate the BJP led government and hold them directly responsible for all these ills.

The AICC has issued directives to all the state Congress chiefs and the party organisations to hold protest demonstrations and sit ins in various district and block headquarters to apprise the people of the demerits of Rafale deals and the alleged corruption and irregularities committed in it while not only enhancing the Rafale Jet fighters prices n bringing down its numbers from 126 to 36 but also arbitrarily favouring Anil Ambani’s company Reliance Defence in place of the public sector undertaking well versed and experienced in defence production since long known as Hindustan Aeronautics limited.

As a result every state Congress is holding these demonstrations and sit in in their respective states. The Congress chose 7th October as the ideal date as the prime minister visited Dehradun in the context of the Uttarakhand Investor Summit of the BJP government and investors from all over the counyry and abroad.

However, one thing which was unique or different about this Congress’s protest Dharna was the conspicuous absence of the former chief minister n the newly appointed general secretary incharge of Assam Harish Rawat n his coterie who earlier never missed a single opportunity to take the lead even if it amounted to annoying the state leadership.

It seems either he has been directed by the Congress high command to take care about Assam than Uttarakhand and give full autonomy to the present president Pritam Singh Rawat or may be the former CM was busy some where else more importantly. Rawat was seen busy few weeks ago in Assam as its incharge organising anti Rafale rallies which was widely publicised in the national media.

What’s your take friends?