BJP Claims It Will Retain Uttarakhand

The ruling BJP today claimed it will come back to power in the state with a decent majority cashing in on the clean image of its Chief Minister B C Khanduri.

"We will win the state assembly elections with a decent majority," BJP National spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said, claiming that the party fulfilled promises made by its government during the present tenure.

Pointing towards several initiatives taken for clean governance in the state, she said the BJP government brought a tough and effective Lokayukta Bill and Right to Public Service Act, showing a strong will to eliminate corruption.

In addition, the government also took numerous steps to revamp crucial sectors like education and health with an aim to bring an end to people's problems, especially those living in the remote hilly areas.

Taking a dig at its promise of giving unemployment allowance if voted to power, Sitharaman slammed the Congress, accusing it of blocking lakhs of job prospects by curtailing the concessional industrial package.

She said the UPA government brought NREGA scheme for unskilled workers but it badly affected agriculture and the small farmers, despite costing heavily to the state exchequer.

She, however, did not predict the number of seats the party was expecting to win out of the total 70 assembly segments.

In the 2007 assembly elections, the BJP had managed to touch the magic figure of 36 in the house of 70, leaving behind the Congress with 20.