By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Uttarakhand BJP president Mahendra Bhatt on Saturday hit back at the Congress over its allegation that the state government was planning to hand over more than 7,000 bighas of government land to private companies, saying the opposition was spreading “baseless” claims for political gains.
Bhatt said the Uttarakhand Investment and Infrastructure Development Board (UIIDB) was working in accordance with the prescribed rules and was aimed at generating investment and employment while helping the state achieve its target of doubling its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).
“The allegation that more than 7,000 bighas of land is being given to private companies is completely wrong,” Bhatt said, adding that the UIIDB currently had only about 18 hectares of land.
He said the board had been constituted to ensure better economic utilisation of government land and resources, particularly land that was currently lying unused. Efforts were being made to attract large-scale investment in tourism, education, agriculture and horticulture, he said.
Bhatt said the government intended to use unutilised land for economic activities strictly according to rules, arguing that providing land and other resources to investors was a normal responsibility of governments seeking industrial development.
Taking a swipe at the Congress, he cited industrial areas such as Selaqui, Roshnabad in Haridwar and Rudrapur SIDCUL, saying they would not have come up had political parties opposed making land and resources available for investment.
“If BJP had adopted such a mindset during the N D Tiwari government, industrial areas such as Selaqui, Haridwar and Pantnagar SIDCUL would not have been developed,” he said.
Bhatt also pointed to investments being sought by Congress-ruled states such as Telangana and Karnataka, asking whether companies investing there brought their own land with them. He said state governments had to provide the necessary resources to facilitate investment.
The BJP leader accused the Congress of opposing development and trying to create confusion among people ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. He said the UIIDB’s functioning was “transparent, planned and within the rules” and that its objective was to increase employment, revenue and economic activity in Uttarakhand.
Bhatt further alleged that the Congress was unable to accept the pace of development under Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guidance.
He urged the Congress to examine its own record on industrial development and government land before raising questions over the state’s current investment policies.