The Hindu : National : Khanduri under fire over destabilising ploy

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Khanduri under fire over destabilising ploy

C.K. Chandramohan

DEHRA DUN: Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri is drawing flak from all corners for his alleged designs to destabilise the Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank Government.

Mr. Pokhriyal was appointed Chief Minister a few months ago after Mr. Khanduri was shown the door following the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party drawing a blank in the Lok Sabha elections from Uttarakhand and a near revolt by party MLAs who rejected his style of functioning.

A major criticism has come from the Congress with AICC member and senior Uttarakhand activist Dhirendra Pratap demanding Mr. Khanduri’s resignation from the State Assembly as “he had failed to utilise even a single rupee from his MLA area development fund”.

“Mr. Khanduri has more than cheated the constituents by not ushering in development in his constituency and must immediately resign rather than shed crocodile tears about the development pace he could have delivered,” said Mr. Pratap over the weekend.

“All know that Mr. Khanduri’s regime was a non-functional one that led to the debacle of the BJP during the general elections in Uttarakhand and he should desist from making false claims and devote time for the development of his constituency,” Mr. Pratap said, adding that the so-called “thanksgiving” tours of Mr. Khanduri were simply a ploy to destabilise the Chief Minister.

He wondered what the former general meant by raking up emotions against a neighbouring country when the nation was in safe hands.

Several senior BJP leaders here also feel that Mr. Khanduri is playing a dirty game to destabilise Mr. Nishank who had emerged as a leader of the masses - accessible to everyone.

Mr. Khanduri as Chief Minister was confined to a coterie and never talked to his own party MLAs, said Jagdish Kandpal, a veteran BJP worker in Dehra Dun.

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