Gopeshwar, Jul 12 (PTI): Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat Friday courted arrest along with several supporters in Gairsain to protest the recent arrest of 35 demonstrators demanding a permanent capital status for the hill town in Chamoli district.
Rawat was joined by former Assembly speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal, former deputy speaker A P Maikhuri, Congress MLA Karan Mahra and others as he arrived in Gairsain and led a procession to the Ramlila ground there.
The former chief minister addressed a public meeting where he accused the BJP government in the state of doing nothing for Gairsain.
Rawat said an amount of Rs 45 crore was sanctioned during his chief ministership for the construction of a secretariat in Gairsain but the amount was not utilised by the current dispensation.
"Nothing has been done for the hills in the last two years with migration continuing unabated," he alleged.
Rawat led a procession to the tehsil headquarters later and courted arrest along with 115 other party leaders.
The demand of the permanent capital status for Gairsain has been raised by different political parties over the years.
