‘Congress wants to finish the character of Devbhoomi’
People will never forget how the party posed hurdles in the construction of the Ram Mandir, says the BJP’s media chief
The BJP’s national media chief Anil Baluni has taken on the challenge of winning in Garhwal (Pauri), Uttarakhand’s largest constituency. Spread over 1,000 sq. km. and home to important religious sites, including the BadrinathKedarnath temples, and Hemkund Sahib gurdwara, Mr. Baluni spoke about his campaign, and promised “guaranteed development and jobs”. Excerpts
The Opposition is dubbing you as an ‘outsider’ and asking people why they would vote for someone who is not living with them. What do you say to this?
The Congress cannot ask questions from the people, but the people can question the Congress on why it opposed Uttarakhand’s
Statehood. This is ‘Devbhoomi’ (land of the gods) and its people will never forget how Congress posed hurdles in the construction of the Ram Mandir (in Ayodhya).
The Congress wants to finish the character of ‘Devbhoomi’. When Harish Rawat was the CM, he announced off on Jumma (Friday). In the 2011 census, it is Uttarakhand, after Assam, where demographic changes happened and the people of Uttarakhand will not let this happen.
What are your plans to check migration?
Being the Rajya Sabha MP from here, I had started a campaign named ‘apna vote, apne gaon’ (my vote will be in my village). It was a huge success and reduced political migration from the State.
The biggest challenge in keeping people in the hills is connectivity and employment opportunities. For connectivity, we have built roads which can fail highways in cities. We now have a train coming till the Himalayas in Karnaprayag.
People from across India and from abroad are coming for ‘workcation’ in Uttarakhand and we are trying to encash this opportunity via a homestay scheme, which provides tourists a home like experience, and jobs to natives.
What difference do you find between the election of 2014, when Narendra Modi was voted to power for the first time, and now in 2024, when he is targeting a third term?
Every election is different from the other. I have not seen an election like 2024 in my entire lifetime, in which people are contesting the election and not the politician. Whenever I got anywhere for campaigning and people see the BJP’s vehicles, they chant the slogan given by the PM — ‘abki baar 400 paar’ (more than 400 seats for the BJP this time). The enthusiasm of the public is visible and overwhelming. People know that this election is not of MPs (Members of Parliament) but of the PM.