Dhami holds rally in constituency vacated for him, promises to boost tourism there

Days after a BJP MLA vacated the Champawat seat for him, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a road show there on Thursday and promised to put the area on the country’s tourism map.

Addressing a rally, he also spoke about a proposal to upgrade Tanakpur Engineering College to Indian Institute of Information Technology and create a temple corridor in the constituency.

Dhami thanked Kailash Chandra Gahtori, who vacated the seat, for his “generous gesture”, and said he had been summoned by “Goddesses Purnagiri and Sharda”, popular deities in the area, to contest from Champawat.

Although the BJP won the recent Uttarakhand Assembly elections, Dhami lost his own Khatima seat to Bhuvan Chandra Kapri of the Congress. He needs to become a member of the state Assembly within six months of being sworn in to continue as the chief minister.

''Bringing Champawat on the country's tourism map will be one of our primary objectives. The government will prepare a special roadmap in this connection,'' Dhami said.

Champawat carries great potential of producing high quality tea, he said. The chief minister also pushed to boost the horticulture sector.

A proposal to upgrade Tanakpur Engineering College to Indian Institute of Information Technology will be sent to the Centre and a Goljyu Devta corridor –linking several temples dedicated to the local deity -- will be developed, he said.

Further, he said Rs 11 crore have been sanctioned to channelise River Sharda river from Uchauligooth to Gaidakhyali. A mini stadium will be built in Banbasa and a primary health centre will come up in Amori, he added.

Dhami was accompanied by Gahtori and Almora MP Ajay Tamta.