Uttarakhand PM Narendra Modi's priority: Amit Shah

BJP president Amit Shah Saturday said Uttarakhand is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's priority and urged people of the state to help the party win all the five Lok Sabha seats in the coming general election as they had done in 2014. "Uttarakhand is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's priority. It is his vision which has been behind the makeover of Kedarnath (devastated by flash floods in 2013)," Shah said addressing BJP's Trishakti Sammelan at the Parade Ground here.

"The all-weather road project launched by the prime minister will make it possible for people to visit Himalayan shrines — centres of faith for millions of Indians living in the country and abroad," he added. Shah said the "double-engine" government provided by Modi at the Centre and Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat had fast-tracked all-round development of the state.

Rawat government's biggest achievement has been the elimination of corruption, he said and asked booth-level BJP workers to publicise the development work carried out by it to ensure the party's victory in the five Lok Sabha seats in the state. He praised the workers, saying his experience has shown that they are capable of converting even the bleakest of electoral scenarios into emphatic victories for the party.

The BJP has the five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand in its kitty but faces the challenge to retain them against the Congress, which won assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in December.

(With inputs from agencies.)