Hills of despair

An inner-party revolt against Chief Minister Nityanand Swamy and the people's disenchantment with the government have made the going tough for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttaranchal.

IF the elections to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly are a "real test" for the Bharatiya Janata Party, so are the Uttaranchal elections. The party may find it difficult to retain the power that it got on a platter in the newly created State on November 9, 2000. Even as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) J.M. Lyngdoh sounded the bugle for the first-ever elections to the Assembly of the hilly State, the clamour seeking the replacement of Chief Minister Nityanand Swamy reached a crescendo in the State unit of the BJP. Those who have raised the demand say that the party would face a rout if it went to the polls under the "uninspiring leadership" of Nityanand Swamy. "Swamyji has to go. Somebody from amongst us, from the hills, should replace him," said a senior BJP functionary at the party office in Dehra Dun.

According to local BJP leaders, Swamy has failed to give the kind of impetus that the party requires in a newly created State. His age, failing health and the fact that he does not belong to the State are cited as reasons for his lack of appeal. Besides, his political background as a long-time Congressman is said to have created a communication gap between him and local BJP leaders.

Nityanand Swamy, who is originally from Haryana, was made Chief Minister amid stiff opposition from the State leaders of the party (Frontline, December 8, 2000). BJP leaders from New Delhi, including Union Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and party vice-president Pyarelal Khandelwal, had a tough time convincing the leaders of the local unit on why Nityanand Swamy should become the Chief Minister. The local leaders reportedly gave in only after they were assured that he would remain Chief Minister only until the Assembly elections. Addressing a press conference after his election as the leader of the BJP Legislature Party, Nityanand Swamy himself declared that he would be in office only for six months or until the elections were held.

The Chief Minister has done little to dispel the doubts about his political loyalty. He is seen more often at Congress(I) programmes than those of the BJP. He maintains a good rapport with N.D. Tiwari, the veteran Congress(I) leader from Uttaranchal. Local BJP workers say that in his "love for the Congress" Nityanand Swamy showed extraordinary enthusiasm in getting completed the work on a medical college named after Tiwari's late wife. They complain that he has not shown a similar interest in any BJP project. BJP workers in the Kumaon region have declared that they would boycott the Chief Minister's programmes. Local units in Haldwani, Nainital, Ramnagar, Bhimtal and Kashipur - all areas where Tiwari has considerable influence - responded to the boycott call.

But Nityanand Swamy's perceived aloofness from the party organisation is not the only problem plaguing the BJP in Uttaranchal. The other and more important factor is the government's failure to meet the people's aspirations. Unlike Chhattisgarh or Jharkhand, Uttaranchal was born after a bloody struggle. Many people were killed in police firing during the agitation for a separate State in 1994. The creation of the State aroused great expectations among the people. The BJP government, however, has failed to live up to their hopes. "Our basic problems relating to education, health, water, roads, employment and so on remain. There is nothing to indicate that the government is thinking about us," said a businessman in Mussoorie. Many people complained about rampant unemployment and the lack of basic facilities such as drinking water, roads and electricity.

A shopkeeper at a village near Mussoorie said: "There are villages that are virtually cut off from the rest of the State for want of proper roads. Women have to travel miles to fetch drinking water and firewood. People carry the sick on their backs for miles to get medical help. Where is the change?"

Adding to their misery is the steep rise in the prices of essential commodities. "Rocketing prices have broken our backs. Before this government came we could eat two meals a day at least; now even that is uncertain," said a rickshaw-puller in Mussoorie. The public distribution system has nearly collapsed. "We are forced to buy kerosene from the open market at the rate of Rs.12-15 a litre. How can poor people like us afford this?" he asked.

The BJP government has not created any employment opportunities. Most of the government employees who had opted for the Uttar Pradesh cadre remain in their posts in Uttaranchal, leaving no room for fresh recruitments. This has alienated a large section of educated, unemployed youth. The much-hyped "special status" for Uttaranchal is yet to bring any real benefits to the people.

Barely seven months into office, the BJP government is mired in corruption charges. It is alleged that huge amounts of money were spent on furnishing the bungalows of Ministers, bureaucrats and the governor at the time of the State's creation. Another allegation is that a large chunk of the Rs.24 crores that was spent on creating infrastructure in the State was siphoned off by those in authority. Immediately after assuming office, the Chief Minister ordered an inquiry into the charges. The fate of this inquiry is not known. The Chief Minister ordered another inquiry recently. The departments under a cloud are Public Works, Rural Engineering Services, the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, the Mussoorie Dehra Dun Development Authority and Municipal Corporation. If corruption becomes an issue in the Assembly elections, the BJP, with the Tehelka episode still fresh in memory, is in for some embarrassment.

But local BJP leaders hope that Tehelka would recede from memory by the time elections are held in the State. "The delimitation exercise has not yet begun. By the time it gets over, another six to eight months will pass. New issues would emerge then," said Ganesh Joshi, a BJP leader in Dehra Dun. The BJP plans to go to the people with the claim that it was solely responsible for the creation of Uttaranchal. "People have tried and tested us. They know it was only because of us that the State got the special State status. They will elect us again," said Joshi.

THE situation is conducive to the emergence of the Congress(I) as a viable alternative, but the party has so far failed to seize the initiative. It does not seem to have woken up even after the CEC hinted that Assembly elections would be held early next year. There is no party organisation in the State, and the high command has done nothing to create one except announcing the name of Harish Rawat as the president of the State unit. Subodh Kant Sahay, the Congress secretary in charge of Uttaranchal, said: "We were waiting for the delimitation exercise to be over. But now it seems it will be a waste of time if we keep waiting. The process of creating the organisation in Uttaranchal will be completed by the first week of July." Sahay said that the Congress(I) would join the people in their struggle to realise their aspirations.

The fact, however, remains that irrespective of whether it has an organisation in Uttaranchal, the Congress(I) seems to be emerging as an alternative. "God willing, the next government will be that of the Congress," said a fruit and vegetable seller in Mussoorie. Such comments are not unusual in the State. Perhaps the spectacular development of the Terai region during the regime of N.D. Tiwari has something to do with this optimism.

As far as organisation is concerned, Opposition parties like the Samajwadi Party (S.P.) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are no better. Vinod Barthwal, the State president of the S.P., is said to have gone into hibernation after he was nominated to the post. The BSP, which has two members in the State Assembly, does not have a State president. The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), headed by Kashi Singh Aeri, a former MLA, is the only party that seems to be active. Aeri is the only political leader who can claim to have fought for the creation of Uttaranchal. It was his party that first raised the demand at the political level and made it an important part of its manifesto. However, Aeri lost his way once the Uttaranchal movement gained momentum. In the present context, however, his presence in the political arena assumes significance.

Aeri has launched his campaign with public meetings and rallies, which attracted huge crowds. Sensing the people's mood, he has been lambasting both the BJP and the Congress(I) and urging the people to give "one of their own parties" a chance to rule. "These are the parties (the BJP and the Congress-I) that are responsible for our problems. Water, land and forest are our only resources, still we do not have control over these. We have to seek permission from Uttar Pradesh for their use. Both the BJP and the Congress are responsible for this sorry state of affairs," he tells the people.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) recently organised a huge rally in Dehra Dun to highlight the State's problems. Addressing the rally, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury hinted at electoral tie-ups with non-BJP, non-Congress regional parties. If the People's Front, of which the CPI(M) is a constituent, enters into an alliance with the UKD, the electoral battle would become multi-polar, making it even more difficult for the BJP.