Shaky start in Uttaranchal

Published : Nov 25, 2000 00:00 IST

Dissidence in the ruling party and discontent among the public mark the formation of Uttaranchal State with the BJP's Nityanand Swami as Chief Minister.

VENKITESH RAMAKRISHNAN in Dehra Dun

FOR a State that came into being after a decade-long mass struggle, the inauguration on November 8 of Uttaranchal, the 27th State of India, was an anti-climax. One expected the enthusiastic participation of the people: in fact, the administration and vas t sections of the political leadership, particularly the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, had billed it as the opening of an era of hope, prosperity and development for the over-80-lakh people of the 13 districts of Uttaranchal. In the event, the ambience at the parade ground in Dehra Dun, the provisional capital, was far from festive. In fact, the 15 minutes since midnight on November 8, when the basic formalities of the creation of Uttaranchal were completed with the swearing in of Governor Surjit Singh Barnala and Chief Minister Nityanand Swami, were marked by scenes that spelt administrative apathy and indifference, improper planning and popular anger.

A glaring aspect was a group of 500-odd youngsters who raised slogans against the choice of Dehra Dun as the capital. "Gairsen, Gairsen," they chanted from the front rows; the reference was to reports of various expert committees that favoured this small town as the capital of the new hill State. Since 1991, three committees went into the question, and all of them recommended that the seat of administration be situated at the centre of the Kumaon and Garhwal regions. Their natural choice was Gairsen. Bu t the official choice fell on Dehra Dun as "there were not enough facilities and infrastructure at Gairsen".

Once the swearing in was over, about 100 advocates of Gairsen jumped on to the dais and raised slogans again. The cultural programmes that were to follow the main function were blocked by this aggressive show of resentment. That this happened only minut es after VIPs such as Home Minister L.K. Advani, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Rajnath Singh, and the Governor and Chief Minister of the new State, had left was evidence of lack of proper arrangements for crowd management. The separate enclosures set up f or VIPs and non-VIPs only added to the confusion.

Chaos was not confined to the inaugural ceremony, it continued as the new government settled down to business. First, dissidence surfaced in the ruling BJP, dealing Nityanand Swami a rude shock on his first day in office. The Chief Minister had proposed to induct 12 Ministers, but only nine turned up for the swearing-in ceremony. The other three Ministers-designate were State BJP president Bhagath Singh Koshiyari, former Minister in the Uttar Pradesh government Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, and Narain Ram D as. Koshiyari and Nishank were strong contenders for the chief ministership, and by all indications they wanted to send a message across to the central leadership that they were unhappy with the selection of a "non-hill person" as Chief Minister.

The revolt was quelled within 24 hours and Nishank, Koshiyari and Narain Ram Das joined the Ministry, which also includes Kedar Singh Fonia, Matbar Singh Kandari, Ajay Bhatt, Mohan Singh Gamwasi and Bansidhar Bhagat (all Cabinet rank) and Narayan Singh R ana, Nirupama Gaur, Suresh Chandra Arya and Teerath Singh Rawat (all Ministers of State). However, the bad blood created would hamper the smooth functioning of the new government. Pokhriyal and Koshiyari have a dozen legislators on their side, a large en ough number to topple the government. In fact, in a show of solidarity with Nishank and Koshiyari, legislators such as Tilak Raj Behad, Raghunath Singh Chauhan, Harbans Kapoor, Gyan Chandra, Prakash Pant, Lakhi Ram Joshi, Narain Ram Das, K.C. Punetha and B.S. Chufal were reportedly closeted with them at the party's State headquarters as the nine Ministers were being sworn in. These legislators even condemned Nityanand Swami in no uncertain terms. Later, when Barnala administered the oath of office and s ecrecy to Nishank, Koshiyari and Das, another group of MLAs stayed away in protest.

The Chief Minister, however, claimed that there was no dissidence in the party: "We are united and will remain together." He said that the results of the new thrust towards development would be visible in Uttaranchal within two months.

Despite this optimism, political observers are of the view that the crisis in the State BJP has only blown over for the moment. Another factor that was behind the revolt was the imbalance in the matter of regional representation in the Ministry. While Pa uri district has four members in the government (three Ministers and the Speaker), the districts of Uttarkashi and Udham Singh Nagar have gone unrepresented. Nityanand Swami apparently did not consult senior party leaders before nominating the Ministers, and this aggravated the dissent. The rebels see this as a serious flaw in the Chief Minister's style of functioning, which they describe as autocratic.

The induction of Nishank, Koshiyari and Das has not helped calm frayed tempers. There are indications that the simmering discontent may once again come to the fore.

In the 30-member interim Assembly, which consists of both MLAs and MLCs of the parent State of Uttar Pradesh, 23 belong to the BJP and three to the Samajwadi Party (S.P) (one of them a rebel) and two each to the Congress(I) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (B SP). If the dozen disgruntled legislators walk out of the BJP, the Ministry will be reduced to a minority. The rebel legislators would then be in a strong position to prop up an alternative government with the support of the seven Opposition legislators. The BJP leadership rules out this possibility; it wants to see the revolt by the MLAs as purely individual cases, which it says can be overcome by offering positions.

The developments in the new State have heightened the plains-hills divide, which has remained unresolved since the geographical contours of Uttaranchal were outlined by including in it the plains districts of Udham Singh Nagar and Hardwar. The row over t he capital, the choice of Nityanand Swami, who is originally from Haryana although he is a resident of Dehra Dun for almost three decades, and the appointment of Barnala as Governor, which is considered a sop to the Sikh community that is agitating again st the inclusion Udham Singh Nagar in the new State, have added fuel to the fire. Besides, the large presence of representatives from Pauri in Garhwal in the Ministry has aggravated the Kumaon-Garhwal regional divide.

Addressing these problems would be one of the priorities of the new dispensation. Barnala has said that he would encourage the government in this task. In fact, several political observers are of the view that there is the need for an institutional frame work to reduce and reconcile the historical frictions between the peoples of the hills and plains on the one hand, and between the peoples of Kumaon and Garhwal on the other.

According to senior State officials, the peculiar economic and political problems of Uttaranchal demand new solutions. The imitation of administrative and political structures that exist in other States will be of no help, they say. Talking to Frontli ne, the Chief Minister said that efforts were made to assimilate these views. In his opinion, the task force set up by the Uttar Pradesh Financial Corporation (UPFC) on the initiative of Chief Minister Rajnath Singh was one such exercise. The task fo rce would seek to improve upon the functioning of the UPFC and make it effective in the special context of Uttaranchal. It would try to fulfil the financial needs of the new State, particularly for its industrial development. The task force would identif y and study the sectors that would enable growth, and re-orient the priorities in sectors such as power, tourism, health and services and entertainment industry. It would reorganise the regional offices falling in the new State in order to cover the new geographical boundaries, the Chief Minister said.

Despite such initiatives, the new State is bound to face several problems, such as shortage of funds and staff and inadequate infrastructure. Already the employees of Uttar Pradesh State have resorted to protests against "forcible" transfer to the Uttara nchal cadre. "Not a single employee will go to the hill State without his or her consent," Harisharan Mishra, secretary of the U.P. Secretariat Association, told Frontline.

The U.P. government's position is that the transfer of employees to Uttaranchal under the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000, was provisional. "The arrangement has been made to enable the new State to function from day one," said a senior officer. He added: "The employees can represent against the transfer at a later stage." Clearly, the new State is going to face a shortage of staff from the outset.

Senior official G.S. Tauliya, who has spent almost his entire career serving in the hill districts of Kumaon and Garhwal, said that evolving the right developmental perspective was important for the balanced growth of the State. He said, "Uttaranchal is a backward area in every sense of the term, with limited scope for normal economic activity." Hence the need to find alternative methods and modes of development. The two available resources are forest produce and hydropower. Forest produce is over-explo ited, and the tapping of hydel resources is fraught with dangers such as disruption of river systems, threat of earthquakes in the seismic zones, and submergence of cultivable land.

According to observers, central to the financial viability of the State is the avoidance of unnecessary and unproductive expenditure. Nityanand Swami is confident that the government will achieve the high aims through collective and purposive efforts. He dismissed the dissent witnessed on the State's formation day as teething troubles.

On the positive side, the Chief Minister can find solace in the fact that both the Udham Singh Nagar Raksha Samiti (USNRS) and the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) did not carry out their threats of agitation. The organisations oppose the inclusion of Udham S ingh Nagar and Hardwar districts in Uttaranchal. By all indications, the USNRS, dominated by the community of Sikh farmers, has been reined in, thanks to Barnala. But if the BKU led by Mahendra Singh Tikait, the maverick kisan leader from western Uttar P radesh, launches an agitation in its predictably violent and aggressive style, it would add to the miseries of the new leadership.

Sign in to Unlock member-only benefits!
  • Bookmark stories to read later.
  • Comment on stories to start conversations.
  • Subscribe to our newsletters.
  • Get notified about discounts and offers to our products.
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment