Rishikesh, Aug 5 (PTI) The Congress will reach out to the people of poll-bound Uttarakhand and raise issues of price rise and unemployment as well as those related to farmers, soldiers, youths and women, the party's state unit said on Thursday, the third and last day of its 'Chintan Shivir'.

This was the first meeting of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee after a new team headed by Ganesh Godiyal took over its reins last month.

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Assembly elections are due in the state early next year.

Addressing a press conference on conclusion of the meeting, Congress in-charge for Uttarakhand, Devendra Yadav, said the party will seek the blessings of the people of the state and raise issues facing farmers, soldiers, youths and women besides those of unemployment and "unprecedented" price rise in the poll-bound state.

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President of the party's campaign committee and former chief minister, Harish Rawat, accused the BJP government of relaxing land laws to help outsiders buy land in the state, saying it posed a serious threat to the identity of Uttarakhand.

He said the land laws had been made stricter during Congress's N D Tiwari's chief ministership in order to save the land of Uttarakhandis and preserve their unique cultural identity.

Relaxing the land laws to help outsiders buy land in the state will be harmful for the state and its interests, he said.

If elected to power the Congress will take steps to save the land and forests of Utttarakhand for its people , Rawat said.

Leader of Opposition in Uttarakhand Assembly Pritam Singh attacked the state government for not passing the Lokpal bill in the assembly despite opposition supporting it.

"We had supported the bill in the assembly. Still it was referred to a select committee of the House. It puts the state government's claims of zero-tolerance to corruption in doubt," he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)