Dehradun: Not even a single Assembly session has been held in Gairsain, which was declared Uttarakhand’s summer capital in 2020, senior Congress leader Pritam Singh said here on Wednesday.
The Congress MLA from Chakrata raised the issue after the question hour saying that the then chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat had proudly made the announcement.
“However, unfortunately not even a single session of the state assembly has ever been held in Gairsain during the summer months,” he said.
In an attack on BJP, Singh said, “BJP’s ‘Atal Ji Ne Banaya Hai, Modi Ji Sanwarenge’ (Atal ji created it, Modi will build it) chant was no more than just a slogan like ‘acche din’ and ‘repatriation of black money’ and Rs 15 lakh in every bank account. State finance minister Premchand Aggarwal responded to the attack and said, “We fought for Uttarakhand. Our men and women sacrificed their lives for it. Where were you when the firing incidents of Muzaffarnagar, Mussoorie and Khatima were taking place?” “Where were you when our mothers and sisters were being violated. Everyone knows which party was in power at the Centre then,” he said.
“The credit for the creation of Uttarakhand goes to Atal Bihari Vajpaye who was prime minister at that time. He did not just create it but also declared it a special category state and gave it an industrial package which was withdrawn by the Congress government,” the BJP leader said. He said ever since Gairsain was declared the summer capital, Republic Day, Independence Day and State Foundation Day functions were held in Gairsain.
The Congress MLA shot back, saying whether it was granted summer capital status merely to celebrate these occasions or run the affairs of the state from there.
Singh also said the infrastructure standing in Gairsain was a contribution of the previous Congress government.
Not holding a session of the state assembly in Gairsain during summer is a contempt of the House as it goes against the announcement made on the floor of the house by a former Chief Minister, he said. Leader of Opposition (LoP) Yashpal Arya also joined the debate by asking the state government to specify the amount it plans to allocate in the budget for the summer capital.
Development of Gairsain is the state government’s commitment and everything will be done to fulfil it, he added. He also assured opposition members that the next session of the state Assembly will be held in Gairsain. —PTI