Parties start drawing battle lines in Uttarakhand
The tiny hilly state of Uttarakhand, like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, is months away from the Assembly elections. Major political parties have started drawing the battle lines–in Uttarakhand’s case, it is again going to be a direct tug of war between the ruling BJP and the Congress. Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is expected to throw AAP’s towel in the ring in all the three states. “We are ready for the saffron enemy’s salvos,” Devender Yadav (49), Congress in-charge of Uttarakhand, told The Sunday Guardian in a hard-hitting exclusive talk on Friday evening. “We are much aware–in fact, the whole nation is now familiar with the style of the BJP’s old ‘dirty tricks department’ to try to win the elections. Their expensive event management style of politics is becoming their liability, but they are blind to see the ground reality,” said Yadav. Earlier, Yadav, as the AICC Secretary, was co-in charge of the party affairs in Rajasthan for two years. A civil engineer by profession, Yadav comes from a well-known political family of north Delhi; his father Mahender Yadav was Municipal Councillor from Badli. Devender Yadav has also been two-time MLA and twice Municipal Councillor from the same area.
Turncoats Are Mercenaries
“The recent humiliating defeat of the BJP in West Bengal is a glaring example of how the saffron parivar fights elections–on unaccounted money flowing from its corporate friends and ‘stealing’ state’s ruling party opportunist MLAs–I call these turncoats mercenaries who are ready to compromise their integrity and the party’s ideology for a price,” Yadav said, adding that “these lotus eaters have an expired formula–beg, borrow and steal to win at any cost”. Asked to comment on the party’s former president Rahul Gandhi’s close friend, Jitin Prasada, on Wednesday joining the BJP, Yadav said, “I don’t want to say anything…my good wishes to him, hope he doesn’t get sucked in ‘Kamal Ki kichad’ (mud). Everyone can see through the game that the BJP start playing months in advance before elections. They did it with TMC, Congress and the Left parties in the recent Bengal Assembly polls. Now, a majority of the TMC’s elected MLAs are eager for ghar wapsi!”
Polls in February 2022
Uttarakhand is expected to go to polls for 70 Assembly seats in mid-February 2022. The main Congress is confident of winning the state back. “After four years of disgusting rule in Uttarakhand, the BJP’s central leadership in March unceremoniously removed its Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat,” said Yadav wondering, “Was it not a BJP’s confession about its utter failure? A new CM was given, that too, Garh MP Tirath Singh Rawat; it is better not to waste time discussing this part-time state head.” “Two days after replacing the CM,” Yadav said, “the BJP appointed Haridwar MLA Madan Kaushik as state president of the party, replacing Bansi Dhar Bhagat. Since then, the BJP is claiming that it is ready with a younger team and new faces for the 2022 Assembly elections.
Dev-Bhoomi’s Pride Will Be Restored
“The people of Uttarakhand are blessed as they live in ‘Dev bhoomi’. People from all over the country come for Char-Dham Ki Yatra. The holy Bhagirathi, Ganga, Jamuna and many other rivers originate from Uttarakhand’s high mountains to become the lifeline of the northern India’s agriculture and economy. “Unfortunately, the BJP for its petty gains and religious agenda, has inducted outsiders to handle the shrines administration. The BJP has short-changed the nation and the people of Uttarakhand won’t forget this–they were sad to see bodies of corona patients flowing in our holy rivers; the people of our ‘Dev-bhoomi’ are specially more perturbed because these sacred rivers have danced their way down from the slopes of the scenic mountains which are God’s heavenly abode…We will restore Dev-Bhoomi’s pride,” said Yadav.
Rename Dalhousie In Netaji’s Name
In BJP-ruled hilly state, Himachal Pradesh, a controversy has erupted over a proposal to rename Dalhousie, a famous hill station in Chamba district, as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Nagar. The town is named after Lord Dalhousie, who was the Governor General of India during the British rule.
The demand has been made by BJP’s senior leader Dr Subramanian Swamy. A Rajya Sabha MP, Swamy is said to have written a letter to the state Governor Bandaru Dattatreya about this. In 1992, the BJP government led by CM Shanta Kumar had even issued a notification renaming the town, but the subsequent Congress regime withdrew it, said Swamy. The Congress is opposing this. Many associated with the tourism industry claim the name Dalhousie gave the town “an international identity” and attracted tourists. The BJP leaders claim Netaji had visited the scenic town in 1937. Chamba ruler Maharaja Shri Singh had in 1853 permitted the British to make a settlement, which came to be known as Dalhousie. British officer Lt Col Napier, who later became Lord Napier, created Dalhousie town and later named it after Lord Dalhousie. Interestingly, Lord Dalhousie hadn’t even visited the town and had nothing to do with its name.