Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday targeted the Congress government in Uttarakhand while urging people to give him a chance to serve the country.
"You've experimented a lot, trust us once. I promise we will do everything to fulfill your dreams," Modi said while addressing a rally in Dehradun.
He said there was lot of water in the hills but still there was darkness in the country.
"There is so much water in the hills but the nation is in darkness. What is the reason behind it? We can generate power through water in the mountains, but these people have no time," he said.
The youth of the hill state was suffering due to lack of development, said Modi.
"The youth of Uttarakhand is leaving because of lack of opportunities. There is scope for tourism but no growth," he said.
"They want people to remain poor, so their governments can go on," he said.
What Modi said in Dehradun:
• Uttarakhand government is more worried about Ramdev than people.
• Congress government in Uttarakhand hasn't done anything to generate power through water.
• Political parties should not play politics at the time of disaster.
{{/usCountry}}• Political parties should not play politics at the time of disaster.
{{/usCountry}}• Congress played politics when floods struck Uttarakhand.
• Everyday some case or another is registered against Ramdev. Is this democracy?
• The youth of Uttarakhand is leaving because of lack of opportunities; there is scope for tourism here but no growth.
• There is a high scope for adventure tourism here, schools should be set up for this,
• Terrorism divides, but tourism unites.
Elaborate security arrangements had been made for Modi's rally in Dehradun with over 600 security personnel to keep a vigil in and around the city.
The rally venue at Parade Ground had been barricaded and CCTV cameras have been installed at strategic points to detect any suspicious movement,
Modi had visited the state over five months ago when a natural calamity of unprecedented magnitude hit the state in June leaving lakhs of people, including hundreds of devotees from Gujarat, stranded at the famous Himalayan shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, also known as char dhams.
He had made an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas of the state but was not allowed to land at any of the affected places for security reasons.
(With inputs from IANS)