Saswat Panigrahi
Of the five states going for polls, Uttarakhand is no less interesting. Though a dozen of political parties are in the poll fray, the big fight, expectedly, will be between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress.
Uttarakhand has voted out incumbent governments in all the Assembly elections held ever since it was carved out of Uttar Pradesh. Will 2012 see a break in the trend?
Pushed to the wall over allegations of massive corruption under Ramesh Pokhariyal ‘Nishank’, the BJP had to replace him with General BC Khanduri. But, can BJP under Khanduri scrape through despite anti-incumbency? Or will the Congress manage to dislodge BJP?
The key issues on which the election would be fought and the result to be decided will answer these questions.
The Khanduri factor
Understanding the popular resentment against the ‘corrupt’ Pokhariyal regime, the BJP turned to its trusted soldier BC Khanduri. Known as ‘Mr Clean’, Khanduri has a huge task at hand in reinvigorating the party cadre and salvaging the party’s sagging image in the state.
It was Khanduri who had led the party to victory in the 2007 Assembly elections and was subsequently chosen as the Chief Minister. However, he was booted out after the party performed poorly in the 2009 general election. Marred with internal dissent, amid the growing ‘Remove Khanduri’ chorus, he quit taking responsibility for the poll debacle.
Now back in the saddle, Khanduri has been proactive in trying to win the battle of perception. Not shying away from taking solid steps, Khanduri enacted two landmark anti-graft bills.
Lokayukta Bill
Mirroring the version of the anti-graft bill pushed by Gandhian Anna Hazare, Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill, 2011 brings all ministers, including the Chief Minister, the MLAs and the government servants including IAS and IPS officers under its ambit. The bill also aims to bring the lower judiciary under its ambit.
BJP is making the passage of Lokayukta Bill a major poll plank and hopes to reap rich electoral dividends.
Right to Public Services legislation: Besides Lokayukta, Khanduri government has also enacted Right to Public Services legislation, which guarantees time-bound delivery of public services to citizens. The legislation provides mechanism for punishing errant public servants, deficient in providing the services as stipulated under the statute. The legislation is meant to reduce corruption among the government officials and aims at bringing transparency and accountability in public services.
Assets declaration: In a bid to bring more transparency, CM BC Khanduri has asked his cabinet colleagues and top bureaucrats in the state to voluntarily declare assets.
Now that the BJP central leadership has again reposed faith in him, as party leaders say “Khanduri hai zaroori” but it remains to be seen whether his clean image would be enough to clean the taint on the saffron flag.
Scams from Nishank tenure haunt BJP
The tenure of Nishank as Chief Minister was riddled with a series of scams. The ghosts of the scams are still haunting the BJP, making the saffron party uncomfortable.
Illegal mining: Nishank’s government was accused of turning a blind eye to rampant illegal river bed sand mining and unscrupulous quarrying mafia in the state, particularly in Haridwar district. Not to forget Swami Nigamananda Saraswati, the 34-year old monk, who fasted to death to save the Ganges from illegal mining.
Land scam: The former chief minister came under scanner for allegedly changing the land use of 15-acre industrial plot worth Rs.400 crore. The land was reportedly handed over to a real estate developer, close to the ruling BJP for a paltry Rs.13 crore.
Power scam: Irregularities were allegedly carried out in the bidding process of hydroelectric power projects, causing huge loss to the state exchequer.
Other scams: In addition, there are alleged irregularities in Chief Minister discretionary fund, government appointment and financial bungling in organizing Mahakumbh mela.
Slur from ND Tiwari era still haunts Cong
It is not only the BJP which is facing allegations of a series of scams. Scams from previous Congress regime -- between 2002 and 2007 -- led by ND Tiwari are also haunting the Congress.
BC Khanduri government in 2007, conducted a probe into the scams. The probe panel has already completed its inquiry into 60 out of the 68 scams and found irregularities in 17 cases.
The scams include those related to financial irregularities in agriculture, irrigation and forest departments, among others.
Congress’ ‘M-D’ formula
The Congress had successfully nurtured Muslim-Dalit votes during 2009 general elections with the part winning all Lok Sabha seats from the state.
With Yashpal Arya having been re-nominated as the PCC president, it is clear that the party high command does not want to disturb the ‘winning formula’. But the moot question is that whether the formula will work for Congress this time?
Congress insiders say the party is hoping that the combine will help it sail through again.
-- Appeared in Zeenews.com
http://zeenews.india.com/state-elections-2012/uttarakhand/issues.html
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