Parties campaign in Ukhand's Pauri

With less than a fortnight to go for the April 11 polls to the five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand, campaigning picked up pace in Pauri district Saturday with both the Congress and the BJP holding public meetings here to garner support for themselves.

While BJP nominee from Pauri (Garhwal) Tirath Singh Rawat spoke about the achievements of the Narendra Modi government to seek votes for himself, District Congress president Chandra Mohan Kharkwal said it was a government of mere slogans.

"The prime minister gave a clean government as promised to people with not a single minister facing charges of corruption during his five year tenure," Rawat said at a public meeting here.

 

The former pradesh BJP president also said Modi had been true to his slogan of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas' by ensuring the development of all the sections of the society, especially the poor.

"He provided toilets to all, electricity to every household and made the lives of crores of women smoke-free by providing them free LPG connections under the Ujjwala Yojana," he said.

Medical treatment worth up to Rs five lakh has been made free for every family under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, he said, adding that these "outstanding" achievements will ensure Modi's return as prime minister after elections.

District Congress president Chandra Mohan Kharkwal, who also held a public meeting here to canvass for Congress nominee from Pauri Manish Khanduri, said he was the perfect choice to represent the seat in the Lok Sabha as stopping migration was on top of his agenda.

Calling the Modi government as a government of mere slogans (jumlas), Kharkwal said Manish Khanduri wants to work only for the development of the constituency if he is elected.

"Helping the poor, unemployed and combating migration are his prorities," Kharkwal said.

BJP's Tirath Singh Rawat and Congress's Manish Khanduri are locked in a straight fight in Pauri, officially known as the Garhwal seat.

The fight in Pauri is all set to be interesting as Manish Khanduri is the son of BJP's sitting MP from the seat Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri and Tirath, hispolitical protege.