JP banks on Dhami to lead he U’khand election battle
In tarakhand, where it faces incumbency and a slew of ges from mismanagement e Covid-19 pandemic to the re in compensating for job es, the Bharatiya Janata y is banking on chief minisushkar Singh Dhami to ess doubts about governdeficit and leadership crihead of the 2022 assembly . e party is also hoping that Dhami now in the saddle, attention that the party for playing musical chairs the chief ministers, which ed at political instability, be diverted. In March, the y replaced Trivendra Singh at, who was in office for years, with Tirath Singh at who in turn was replaced hami after four months of g oath in July. ccording to senior party ers, following a recent d of meetings between the and national leadership of JP chaired by party presijp Nadda, the CM was d to sort out with speed rnance issues in the last e of the BJP’S five-year tene departments, increasing the salaries of government teachers and resumption of jobs on contract basis will shore up the party’s fortunes.
“Even though the appointments will take about five to six months since the service commission has to be roped in, it will subside the anger to a large extent,” the leader quoted above said.
Another issue that has been simmering in the state that the CM has been asked to tackle right away is the issue of temple management through the Devasthanam Board.
The new management model envisaged by Dhami’s predecessor Trivendra Singh Rawat was met with protest in the hill state and was given as a reason for his removal.
While the government argued that the board was formed to administer and manage the properties of the temples including the four major centres of pilgrimage — Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri — the priests led a stir against it and still want it to be scrapped.
The issue is also likely to figure prominently in the elections early next year.
Earlier this week, Dhami had an hour-long meeting with a group of priests in the state to assure them that the Devasthanam Board that was created in 2019 to serve as a management board for 51 temples in the state would not impinge on their rights.
The CM’S outreach to the priests is a signal of truce between the government and the religious leaders.
“Unlike his predecessors (Trivendra Singh) who had rubbed people the wrong way, Dhami is young and possesses the quality of taking people along. He listens and reaches out, a quality that helps in keeping the party flock together,” said a second leader based in Delhi on condition of anonymity.
The leader, however, admitted that the party will have to think on its feet to counter the public perception about governance issues as the opposition has been quick to raise issues ranging from land laws to employment. “Though the chief minister has set up a threemember committee to work on the demand for restriction on land purchase in the state, the opposition has made it into a major poll issue. Parties such as the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party have been aggressive in taking up the issue,” said the second leader.
With AAP throwing its hat in the ring and promising subsidised amenities as it does in Delhi, the BJP is being forced to come up with matching incentives and ingenuity to counter the promised sops.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has promised up to 300 units of free electricity per month to every family in Uttarakhand and free electricity to the farmers.
The Congress, for its part, has stated that it will quash the amendments made to the Uttarakhand (Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act, 1950) Amendment Act, 2018, that did away with a 12-acre ceiling on purchase of agricultural land for industrial purposes.
Former CM Harish Rawat, too, has been vocal about the need for laws restricting the sale and purchase of land to locals.
The BJP is also expecting the spate of landslides to snowball into a poll issue. As per details by the Uttarakhand government, there have been over 100 landslides in 2021 alone leading to loss of life and property.
With environmentalists and common people alike blaming the construction of the 5.5 metre wide Char Dham road for deterioration of the local ecology, the party is on the defensive, claiming that it was necessary from the point of view of national security and development of the region.
Even the Supreme Court in 2020 had directed the state government to limit the road width to 5.5m as against 10m proposed initially.
“When flash floods on the Dhauliganga river occurred in February, many people blamed the construction activities in the state. More trees were cut than what was permitted and in the past year, there has been loss of life due to frequent landslides. Since people are concerned about the fragile ecology of the state that has harmed the economy as well, this issue will dominate the political discourse,” said Professor MM Semwal of the HNB Garhwal Central University.
Commenting on whether Dhami’s appointment can change the party’s fortunes, he said the BJP’S campaign has pivoted around Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image and central schemes, but as the polls draw near, the people will demand to know what plans the BJP has for them.
“The Congress, the AAP and the BJP are all competing for the Hindutva agenda. AAP, for instance, said it wants to turn Dehradun into an adhyatmik or spiritual capital; the Congress says Hindutva is not BJP’S monopoly. But given the high literacy rate of the state, people will demand to know what plans they have for economic revival, job creation and improving the healthcare infrastructure in the state,” Semwal said.