I loved Rohtang, had fun in snow: Governor Bandaru Dattatreya

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 11

Even as his gherao by Congress MLAs outside the Vidhan Sabha had made headlines, Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, who has been shifted to Haryana, said, for him, it was something very normal which he would not even remember as he loved Himachal and did not want to leave it.

“Moreover, those who gheraoed me admitted that they had never intended to do so and had a lot of respect for me,” he said when asked how he felt about the incident.

‘Sepu vadi’ his favourite dish

While Mandi cuisine ‘sepu vadi’ is one of my favourite dishes, Rohtang is my favourite spot. “I loved my visit to Rohtang and the fun I had in the snow. I even tried skiing,” he reminisced. “I am not at all happy at the thought of moving to Haryana as the people here have beautiful and pure hearts,” he said.

While Mandi cuisine “sepu vadi” is one of his favourite dishes, Rohtang is his favourite spot. “I loved my visit to Rohtang and the fun I had in the snow. I even tried skiing,” he reminisced. “I am not at all happy at the thought of moving to Haryana as the people here have beautiful and pure heart,” he said.

He said people were calm and peace-loving. “I shared excellent relations with leaders of all political parties who openly interacted with me and shared their views,” he said.

He added that his health had improved considerably ever since he came to Himachal.

He said during the Covid pandemic, he spoke to about 6,000 people in Himachal, Telengana and Andhra Pradesh. “I tried to assure people that there is nothing to fear it as long as one ensures social distancing and precautions like mask and hand sanitising,” he said. Meanwhile, during an interaction with mediapersons, Dattatreya said though efforts were being made to strengthen infrastructure and communication along areas bordering China, steps must be taken to instill confidence among the locals.

He had assumed office here on September 11, 2019. “I had the opportunity to travel to the areas bordering China. I suggested to Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur that confidence-building measures must be taken so that people do not live in any kind of fear,” he said.

Dattatreya, who will assume office on Thursday in Chandigarh, said he had also discussed the issue with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the Chief of the Army Staff.

He said though Himachal was emerging as a model hill state, efforts should be made to eradicate the drug menace.

He said there was a lot of potential in the tourism sector in Himachal but more steps were needed to promote the “Shaktipeeth” in Kangra and other districts. “People know about Kullu-Manali, Dharamsala and Shimla but not about the Shaktipeeth like Jwalamukhi,” he said.