‘Debt-ridden transporter was instigated by Congress’

“The way he (Prakash Pandey) shot video of himself and circulated before he went unconscious suggests that the Congress is behind the episode,” BJP legislator Balwant Bhauriyal says.

A section of the BJP leaders and supporters on Wednesday alleged transporter Prakash Pandey played in the hands of opposition Congress, with one of them going to the extent of dubbing the death as a ‘political motivated drama’.

In some of his posts, Haldwani transporter Prakash Pandey had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to find a way for bailing out the traders hit by the policies of the NDA government.(Pic courtesy: Facebook)

The Haldwani transporter had shot a video of himself after consuming poison and then he went to the BJP office to share his ordeal before he collapsed there. “The way he (Pandey) shot video of himself and circulated before he went unconscious suggests that the Congress is behind the episode,” BJP legislator Balwant Bhauriyal said.

Bhauriyal was not alone to raise doubt. Bobby Rawat, a BJP supporter, suspected Congress state president Pritam Singh was behind the death of the Haldwani transporter. “This (Pandey’s death) is a political motivated drama. Someone shot the video, the director is safe while the actor has died,” Rawat posted on his timeline.

But the irony was Pandey’s Facebook profile suggested that he was a BJP supporter. The Kathgodam transporter had shared several posts hailing right-wing policies. His friend list has a number of local BJP leaders from Haldwani. In some of his posts, Pandey had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to find a way for bailing out the traders hit by the policies of the NDA government. In his video, Pandey had said he supported Modi.

The businessman had written a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office in August last year urging him to help the traders like him who were hit hard by demonetisation. The letter was acknowledged by the PMO and marked to the secretary (revenue) in Uttarakhand. HT has a copy of the letter. However, officials were clueless about any such communication.

A senior BJP leader said the transporter’s death has left the BJP managers ‘clueless’. No party leader visited the Doon hospital after Pandey died on Tuesday . The BJP brass has now sought a report on the developments.

“It is strange that the BJP is blaming us as it is frustrated and knows what will be the fallout now,” Congress spokesperson MD Joshi quipped.