'I am not going to talk about fear and apprehension.'
'I can only talk about my expectation which at this moment is to bring back development and maintain that momentum in the coming months,' Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat tells Rashme Sehgal for Rediff.com
The last two months proved extremely unsettling for Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Singh Rawat who saw himself deposed in the state not once but twice, only to find himself reinstated following a Supreme Court directive.
The Supreme Court ordered a trust vote on the floor of the assembly in Uttarakhand on Tuesday, May 10, which the Congress won by 33 votes against the BJP's 28 votes. The Congress had to seek the support of two Bahujan Samaj Party, Uttrakhand Kranti Dal and Independent MLAs.
Following his reinstatement his entire cabinet arrived in Delhi on Thursday to thank Congress President Sonia Gandhi and BSP supremo Mayawati and to appraise Congress leaders Ahmed Patel and Ambika Soni about the political situation.
Rawat said he was willing to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to seek their help for the development of Uttarakhand.
There is a strong perception that the Uttarakhand assembly election will be advanced and held this October-November. This will help the Congress capitalise on the perception in the state that your government was wrongly dismissed?
That will happen when the time comes. For the present, our main priority is to restore the development of our state which has got derailed in the last two months.
The entire development agenda for our state has suffered a major jolt.
What is important is for us to restore the momentum. This remains the priority, both of the cabinet and government at large. We are determined to wage a war against poverty.
Given the circumstances under which you lost your position, do you feel the central government will be in the mood to cooperate with you?
I am not going to talk about fear and apprehension at this stage.
I can only talk about my expectation which at this moment is to bring back development and maintain that momentum in the coming months.
And for this, I will welcome the support of all including the central government.
You went personally to thank Mayawati for her help.
I am extremely grateful to Mayawatiji for helping me win the floor test.
Will this result in a BSP-Congress tie-up for the UP elections?
That is for the Congress central leadership to decide.
All I can say is that we must join hands with like-minded parties in order to fight communal forces like the BJP. That should be a common goal for us.
What are your views on the two stings that took place against you?
This is a conspiracy to defame me.
You were to appear before the CBI on Monday who are investigating these stings.
I could not appear. The CBI had asked me to appear a day before the floor test which was not possible and then again on Thursday. I do not know what the hurry is. They could have called me later.
You are reported to have pointed out that the land mafia played a role in your ouster.
There were three allegations levied against me by the BJP. These related to the land allotment for the smart city project and helping the mining mafia. I want to state categorically that all these allegations are baseless.
Given that your government is in a rather precarious position, are you planning to enter into a dialogue with the Congress dissidents.
No, there is little chance of that. But as I have emphasised, this is not the time to be getting into confrontation.
This is not a matter of victory or defeat. The victory is for the people of Uttarakhand and for democracy.
I want to make this into a victory for development and for this I would like to take the support of the Centre.
