Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Amit Shah
launched his party’s ‘Parivartan Yatra’ in Uttarakhand by lashing out at
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat in
Dehradun on Sunday.

The BJP chief questioned Rahul Gandhi the logic of standing on queue, for
exchanging Rs.4,000, by going to the bank in a luxury car.

Shah compared the Rawat government with a damaged
transformer that he said needs to be replaced so that electricity can reach the
public. He accused the Rawat government of providing patronage to liquor, land
and sand mining mafias in the hill state.

Making a harsh comment on Rahul, Shah said, “Two days ago,
Rahul Gandhi was standing on a bank queue. He went there on a four crore car.
He should have opted for a smaller car for this. We understand what’s bothered
him.”

The BJP president expressed shock over the reaction of
political parties like the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the
Congress on the Narendra Modi government’s recent move of withdrawing
Rs500-1000 note.  He quipped, “Hai toba macha rakha hai’ rather than
cooperating with the move of the Modi government against black money.”

The issue of One-Rank, One Pension’ (OROP) figured
prominently in the public address with Shah taking a jibe at Rahul. “The OROP
issue was pending since the past 60 years. It prevailed during your (Rahul
Gandhi) Nani, grandmother, father and mother’s rule. Rahul asked Modi ji to
implementing OROP recently. In which world you are living Rahul ji? The Modi
government has finished this issue and Rs 5,500 crore has been disbursed and
pending issues will be solved soon.”

Rawat was on target of the BJP chief in the Dehradun rally.
Right from CM’s sting operation to the allegation of Rawat having close
relationship with mafia figured in Shah’s speech.

Recalling the TV sting operation,  Shah said,
 “You should increase business and industries. Doing the business of MLAs
will not help the public in any way Rawat ji.”

Charging that the corrupt government had stalled development
in Uttarakhand, Shah accused Rawat of promoting liquor, land and sand mining
mafias in Uttarakhand and also harassing the media.

“The electricity supply get affected with a transformer gets faulty,
Uttarakhand government is like that only and the need is to change it with a
new one. Though the central government send adequate budget for the state but
due to corruption no development is taking place here. Those Congress leaders
who used to dwell in tin-sheds are now living in big bungalows.”

Sensing the growing closeness of the Congress and the
Samajwadi party in Uttar Pradesh, Shah used the opportunity to link the
relation of the two parties to the Rampur Tiraha incident- in which Uttarakhand
statehood activists had to face brutality from Police while they were going for
rally in Delhi.

Recalling the 1–2 October incident at Mazafarnagar, the BJP
president said, “At Rampur Tiraha youths were killed and Congress supported the
Samajwadi Party in the Police act.”

The BJP president kicked off the ‘Parivartan Yatra’ by
flagging off two chariots that will travel to different parts of Uttarakhand
spreading party message for the coming state assembly elections. The packed to
capacity Bannu school ground in Dehradun witnessed a united BJP as all the
prominent leader of Uttarakhand participated- including Major-Gen (Retd.) B.C
Khanduri, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Vijay Bahuguna and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

Raju Gusain