| Surya Bikram Shahi, president of the Gorkha Democratic Front, puts it rather tersely. "You sculpt a statue. You make one eye larger than the other, one hand longer, one leg longer. The statue is bound to be out of shape." The statue that Shahi is talking about is Uttarakhand and the sculptor is, of course, Narain Dutt Tiwari who has been the chief minister of the state for the past five years which will elect its second assembly on February 21. Ironically, it was on the plank of lack of development that the people of this hilly state had launched an agitation in the 1990s in support of their demand for a separate state. Though their wish was granted and Uttaranchal state came into existence in November 2000, the old problems remain. Sure, the state has seen development, but it is uneven and inequal. The plain areas comprising Hardwar, Udham Singh Nagar and parts of Dehradun and Nainital have registered an unprecedented boom with mega corporate houses including Tata and Bajaj setting up manufacturing units and centres of higher education have sprung up. Contrast this with the hilly regions comprising Almorah, Pithoragarh in Kumaon and Paudhi and Uttarkashi in Garhwal divisions: there is nothing but apathy, neglect and backwardness. As a result, the hilly belts are still a money-order economy. Unemployed youth migrate to other parts of the country, mostly to do menial jobs. It is for this reason that the coming elections are a test of "vikas putra" Tiwari. As electioneering picks up, the BJP, armed with the details of all scandals and misuse of funds in the Tiwari regime, is questioning the credentials of the Government. "There were more than 500 big and small scandals in the last five years," says Digvijay Singh, a state BJP leader. But with Tiwari deciding not to contest the polls, it is state Congress President Harish Rawat who has to ensure the party retains power. Explains Rawat, "Our focus is on the all-round achievements of our Government, particularly the industrial growth besides employment and infrastructure." His major challenge, apart from thwarting the Opposition attacks over the scandals, discretionary quota and lopsided development, is to keep the Brahmin votebank intact. In the absence of Tiwari, the upper castes, which dominate the state, may opt for the BJP. However, the BJP has not been able to cash in on the incumbent government's follies. State BJP chief and former chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari's biggest handicap is the praise he has showered on Tiwari in the past. Also, there is a feeling among the people that the BJP has failed to play the role of an active opposition and also could not mount an effective attack on the Tiwari Government. The BJP has also not been able to convince the people that it was the NDA government that had created the state and the party was instrumental in ensuring a special category status for Uttarakhand. Besides, like the Congress that is divided between the Tiwari and the Rawat camps, the BJP too suffers from intense factionalism. Also, there is a large-scale discontent among the womenfolk who have been denied tickets by most of the political parties despite the fact they equally and actively participate in the social, political, and environmental issues of the region and are well aware of their rights. "But we have to be content with whatever the high command directs," admitted Shanti Juwantha, a senior Mahila Congress functionary. The Congress has fielded only six women candidates while the BJP only seven in the 70 assembly constituencies in the state. This, when almost half the total number of constituencies have female voters outnumbering their male counterparts. The literacy rate among women is more than 60 per cent, much higher than the national average. While it is the winter of discontent in the hilly state, it remains to be seen whether the formation of a new government will be able to make people any happier. Index |
CONGRESS: N.D. Tiwari's rule is no feather in the party's cap which makes PCC chief's job even tougher
