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Tribune News Service
Dehradun, September 25
Though the BJP government has been in power in Uttarakhand since March 2017, going by an official letter written by the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj, at least the Panchayati Raj Minister in the state is still Pritam Singh, who is now the Uttarakhand Congress president.
In a major blooper, the Union ministry for Panchayati Raj headed by minister for Panchayati Raj Narendra Singh Tomar, while asking the state government to mark October 2 as Gram Simridhi and Swachta diwas in a letter, has addressed Pritam Singh as the state Panchayati Raj minister. Pritam Singh was Minister for Panchayati Raj in the previous Congress government. The letter was written on September 18 to the state department.
With the BJP government under Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat in power in Uttarakhand, Arvind Pandey is the Panchayati Raj minister. Pritam Singh is now in the opposition and is president of the state Congress.
This has not escaped the opposition Congress, as leader of the opposition Indira Hridayesh did not lose an opportunity to attack the BJP.
“It is bit strange, right from it’s pre-election pitch to the present, the BJP and the Prime Minister harped on the double engine phrase i.e. a BJP government in the state that would work in coordination with the Centre, but it seems the machinery in the Centre is not aware the government has changed hands, said,” Hridayesh.
On the other hand, BJP chief Ajay Bhatt brushed off the matter as a minor mistake and said that this would be brought to the notice of the ministry.
Uttarakhand Congress president Pritam Singh laughed it off and said that it was a minor mistake. “I hope they realize that coining phrases etc is one thing and delivering on them is quite another. What matters is that they deliver on their promises,” he added.
Union ministry letter
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