Congress Rajya Sabha member from Uttarakhand Pradeep Tamta today claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was taking credit for development projects in Kedarnath which were initiated by the Harish Rawat government.
Prime Minister Modi laid foundation stones for reconstruction projects worth Rs 700 crore in Kedarnath on October 20, which the Congress claimed were already launched during its government's tenure.
Congress' Harish Rawat was the chief minister of the state from February 2014 till the assembly election this year. There were two brief spells of president's rule during this period.
"Though inauguratingprojects initiated during the previous Congress regime, the prime minister is silent on rehabilitation of over 350 villages that weredevastated by the Kedarnath tragedy," Tamta told a press conference here.
Sudden floods had ravaged the state in 2013 killing thousands of people.
Tamta said if the prime minister genuinely felt for the people of the state, he should either restore its special category status or give it a financial package to compensate for the losses.
"Stripping the state of its special category status has caused financial losses to the state besides adversely affecting employment generation schemes," he said. "If Modi really feels for the state he should revive that status or give it a compensation package."
The prime minister is scheduled visit the state later this week when he would be in Mussoorie for two days on October 26 and 27.
Tamta alleged the prime minister has increased the frequency of his visits to the state to divert people's attention from the problems he hadpromised to solve during state election campaign earlier this year.
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