PITHORAGARH: A 55-day-long agitation for a separate district status for Didihat sub-division in Uttarakhand ended on Thursday after an assurance from former chief minister Harish Rawat that the demand will be conceded on priority if the Congress comes to power next year.
Rawat said his government had created a corpus fund of Rs 100 crore in the year 2016 to create nine new districts in the state but the party was thrown out of power before it could do so.
"Making Didihat a district will be our first priority if we form the government after the next assembly polls," he said.
"The BJP government in the state has belied the aspirations of people in the border regions like Didihat despite the fact that they have been fighting for a separate district status since 1962," the former chief minister said.
Coordinator of Didihat Zila Banao Sangharsh Samiti, Lavi Kaphalia, said the committee has ended the first phase of the agitation only.
The second phase will begin soon if the demand is not conceded, he said.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders said Rawat is playing an "election gimmick" with Didihat people by giving them fake assurances.
"Former BJP chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had announced district status for Didihat in the year 2011. But when the Congress formed the government after him, it handed over the issue to a commission with an intention to delay it," Cabinet Minister and Didihat MLA Bishan Singh Chuphal said.