The
past several months constitute what can be called a watershed period in the
politics of Uttarakhand. Rebellion in ruling Congress party, Chief Minister
Harish Rawat’s sacking in March 2016 following the sting operation and then his
reinstatement in May after floor test by High Court order; laid bare the true
character of our netas enjoying the perks of power on our vote and money.
That
politics has become the biggest money spinner in our country was never in
doubt; the surprise lay in the level congressmen stooped to for the purpose.
The mutiny itself was for not getting what they believed was “their” share of
the booty, rather than the reasons that were cited for public consumption.
Vijay Bahuguna was a revelation in the rebel camp, having earlier enjoyed a two
year stint as Chief Minister before being forced out under similar allegations.
More
desertions from the Congress, expected after Harish Rawat’s swift removal
following the infamous sting that caught him with his pants down, simply did
not happen; leading to his return to helm in May and proving his majority in a
reduced House, rebels having been disqualified for having insufficient numbers
to be treated as a split in the party.
Did
the fence sitters, who were all set to desert Rawat, indeed get money for
continuing to support him? MLAs
switching over to BJP just before the polls do give credence to this.
Having
scored a constitutional victory over his detractors and the BJP in spite of
losing the moral right to stay in office, Harish Rawat chose to let go a golden
opportunity of salvaging some pride by recommending the dissolution of Vidhan
Sabha and seeking a fresh mandate soon after resuming office; deciding to cling
to his money spewing chair right till the end instead.
While
Congress has long been a one family enterprise, nurturing similar smaller
familial structures down the hierarchy and engaged in large scale corruption; BJP
prides itself as the only national, cadre based, non-family owned, most
disciplined political party in the country. It has been a cradle for development
of political leadership and has provided opportunity for new talent from the
grassroots level to rise and shine.
Shivraj
Chauhan (Madhya Pradesh), Raman Singh (Chattisgarh) and Manohar Parrikar (Goa),
all three time Chief Ministers of their states respectively; have risen through
rank and file and have won successive mandates on the basis of their
performance.
The
tallest of them all, Narendra Modi, has similarly undertaken the journey from a
humble kar sewak to four-time Gujarat CM to Prime Minister himself. Moreover,
post demonetization, he has emerged as the rare Indian politician people have
complete faith in; if serpentine queues outside banks and ATMs for hours end witnessed
for well over a month across the country sans protests or unsavory incidents, despite
provocation and big hue and cry raised by opposition parties, are anything to
by.
Against
this backdrop, how and why did the BJP think tank allow and accept such a large
influx of people for whom the party was “communal” till just the other
day? Does BJP not have enough of its own
capable leaders at various levels in Uttarakhand?
More
importantly, why have the Aryas – Rekha (Someshwar) Sanjeev (Nainital) and
Yashpal (Bajpur), members of the same family, fielded from three different seats,
particularly since only one of them is a member of the outgoing Assembly and
all joined the party just a few weeks ago? What credentials does Saurabh
Bahuguna (Sitarganj) have other than being Vijay Bahuguna’s son? On what basis
Munna Singh Chauhan and his wife Madhu Chauhan have been selected as candidates
from Vikas Nagar and Chakrata respectively?
Has
BJP betrayed its own cadres for swift short term gains? Has it become a party
for fostering political dynasties in Uttarakhand?
The
Congress rebels, had they been leaders of substance, would have formed a new
party, which would have provided a third option which is sorely missing in
Uttarakhand; UKD having failed in its duty to do so. Instead, all of them
joined the BJP, with many more of their former colleagues following suit just
before the elections. With so many former congressmen contesting on BJP ticket,
it has become difficult for voters to differentiate between the two parties.
This
being the case, the onus is now solely on us common Uttarakhandis, and we must
now exercise our constitutional right with due diligence. While the present
government has to be booted for its unethical ways and there may be no
alternative in sight to BJP at present, the initiative lies with us for voting
not on the basis of the party, caste or community; but for the best candidate solely
on his/her credentials and track record.
We have to understand that many candidates, particularly the new entrants in BJP, enjoyed the spoils of power for at least four years before switching sides solely for the selfish purpose of winning election, welfare of the state being the last thing on their mind. We have to ensure that these now-secular now-nationalist but definite self-seeking turncoats as well as the undeserving ones are kept out of Vidhan Sabha at all costs.
We have done it before and there is no reason why we cannot do it now. Saket Bahuguna, son of the then CM Vijay Bahuguna, was rejected by the voters of Tehri Lok Sabha seat vacated by his father in the November 2012 by poll as well as in 2014 general elections. Likewise, Suryakant Dhasmana (Congress) has never won any election though he has contested several times. Only this time such candidates have to be shown the door over a large number of seats.
Independent candidates with good credentials deserve a serious look in and must be preferred over party fielded tainted ones. Anoop Nautiyal is one such contender from Dehra Dun Cantt seat. Other seats must be having similar deserving aspirants that voters of those constituencies will know of. Though Nautiyal faces BJP veteran and heavyweight Harbans Kapoor, should he even manage to finish runner-up ahead of Congress’s Dhasmana; and independents on other seats pull off a satisfactory performance; it may well be the beginning of value based politics in Uttarakhand.
After elections, people of Uttarakhand must come together in the form of pressure groups, be vigilant and force their elected representatives to keep their promises. For the long haul, we Uttarakhandis will have to somehow come up with a viable third option in the state on our own, sans any professional netas.
(Published in Garhwal Post on 14th Feb 2017)
