UPA rejected my bid to rebuild Kedar: Modi

DEHRADUN: PM Narendra Modi accused the former UPA government on Friday of stopping the Gujarat government, which he led at the time, from carrying out reconstruction work in the Kedar valley following the devastating 2013 flashfloods.

On a visit to Kedarnath on Friday, a day before the shrine closes for winter, Modi claimed he had visited Uttarakhand in June 2013 and made an offer to the then Uttarakhand CM Vijay Bahuguna, a Congres member at the time, that his state carry out the entire reconstruction work in the region. He added that the Uttarakhand government gave "in-principle approval to the idea, but later bowed to pressure from the UPA government at the Centre and turned down our request". "After the news... of Gujarat's offer... was flashed on television, the people in Delhi (UPA government) panicked and within an hour, the state government was pressured to announce that the help of Gujarat was not needed...," Modi said.

The PM addressed around 4,000 people at the shrine, greeting them in Garhwali. After laying the foundation stones for five projects worth an estimated Rs 150 crore, he said "the wheel has come full circle". "Even though they did not allow me to provide any help during that time, Baba (Lord Shiva) has chosen his son to carry out reconstruction work here. Kedarnath would be given modern infrastructure but its traditional soul preserved. Through the example of Kedarnath, we will show how an ideal 'Tirth Kshetra (pilgrimage region' should be, and how the well-being of both priests and pilgrims should be given importance," he said. The environment, he added, will be "given due importance while undertaking projects."

This was Modi's second visit to the shrine this year. He had earlier visited the temple when it opened on May 3 after the winter break.

He added that his visit to the shrine town — where he said he had spent time in his youth on a spiritual quest — had "strengthened my resolve to devote myself fully to realising the dream of a developed India by the time we mark 75 years of freedom in 2022". "Although my intention was to keep serving baba (Kedarnath), he had a different plan... he perhaps wanted me to serve 125 crore babas," Modi said.

(With agency inputs)