Promising a series of sops for Uttarakhand, including aid for the Kumbh Mela and setting up of industrial parks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday made an emotional appeal to people to return the ruling Congress to power in the state.
Dr Singh also lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party, which ruled the state for two years before the Congress, and said, "The BJP government did nothing except changing its chief ministers."
Like Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who campaigned in Uttarakhand on Friday, Singh made no mention of the party's chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming polls in the wake of incumbent N D Tiwari's decision not to contest elections.
Dr Singh vowed that the central government will provide all possible financial aid for the Kumbh Mela at Haridwar, set up a horticulture zone for exports in Roorkee and open industrial parks at Udham Singh Nagar and other areas.
"I have spent few years in this beautiful state. I have great attachment with this state. It is my dream to see Uttarakhand as a developed state," Singh said.
"In order to make Uttarakhand one the best states of the country, I urge you to return the Congress to power. We are committed to fulfill the dreams of the great people of Uttarakhand."
The central government has already given Rs 100 crore for the Kumbh Mela and started a new rail link between Muzaffarnagar and Haridwar. New roads are being built along the Indo-China border and the Delhi-Dehra Dun highway will be widened to four to six lanes. A new hospital on the line of Delhi's AIIMS is being built in Rishikesh, Singh said.
"If the Congress government continues for another five years, the landscape of Uttarakhand would become so beautiful," he said.