DEHRADUN: Opposition BJP in Uttarakhand today alleged Chief Minister Harish Rawat's daylong fast in Delhi was a ploy to divert the attention from his failure as a Union minister in preventing the UPA-II government from declaring a vast area along the Bhagirathi river as eco-sensitive zone. Rawat today sat on a fast at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi to protest the rejection of his government's masterplan on the Bhagirathi eco-sensitive zone (ESZ).
The UPA II government had brought out a notification, which declared a vast area along Bhagirathi as ESZ. The masterplan seeks dilution of the notification and permission for construction of small hydel projects on the plea that the notification had brought development to a halt. Pradesh BJP spokesman Munna Singh Chauhan said Rawat was resorting to "poll gimmicks" in a bid to divert people's attention from the facts regarding the declaration of the ESZ.
He claimed the huge success of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Dehradun has baffled the chief minister. "UPA-II issued the notification ignoring recommendations of then chief minister Vijay Bahuguna at a time when Harish Rawat was himself a minister in the Union government. It is hard to understand who Rawat is protesting against," Chauhan said. "If his heart bled for the people of Uttarakhand why didn't he protest against the notification then," he said.