India, Sept. 29 -- Ahead of crucial assembly elections in Uttarakhand next year, where the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) is set to lock horns with the Congress, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the Opposition party's attempt to build a Dalit narrative with the Haldwani "purification" issue has been busted, and nothing of that sort took place.

In an interview with HT, Dhami also spoke on wide-ranging issues including Char Dham development, rising weather disasters and political slugfest over the SIR. Edited excerpts:

Since Narendra Modi ji became PM, a lot of developmental works have taken place in Uttarakhand - developing all weather Char Dham road and Delhi-Dehradun expressway; setting up several medical colleges including the Al...