BJP faced with problem of plenty

SMA Kazmi

After the political drama over the past nearly two months that culminated in Chief Minister Harish Rawat winning the floor test ordered by the Supreme Court, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was left red-faced for its failure to topple the Congress government, faces another problem.

The state unit of the BJP has a problem of plenty with the entry into the party fold of 10 Congress legislators. The central leadership facilitated their entry, leaving the state BJP leaders unhappy and uncertain. They argue that the decision is flawed, as was the decision to topple the Rawat government without consulting them.

They are of the opinion that the decision would boomerang in the polls as it was the BJP which had been criticising these leaders in the past. The BJP had launched a campaign against the alleged failure of former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to provide succour to the June 2013 natural disaster victims. The party had also charged his government with misappropriation of relief funds.

The BJP leaders feel that these contradictions would prove to be costly for the party, which claims a moral high ground in politics. Moreover, the party tickets to 10 Congress rebels would also annoy the BJP leaders who had been preparing to fight elections.

The social media in Uttarakhand is abuzz with criticism of the BJP on the issue. There have been attempts by the party leadership to stem the dissent in the state unit ahead of the crucial Assembly polls scheduled in January 2017.

The fate of the nine rebel Congress legislators who revolted against Rawat on March 18 on the passage of the Appropriation Bill in the Assembly was uncertain from that very day. It was believed that the rebels must have struck some deal with the BJP before embarking on the path of rebellion. 

However, the long legal battle that preceded the March 18 rebellion sealed the fate of the rebel Congress MLAs. Their hopes of any kind of rapprochement with the Congress diminished as the party vowed to fully back Rawat and refused to have any dialogue on their prime demand for his removal.

The floor test and refusal of the Supreme Court to allow them to vote left them with little option but to go with the BJP rather than forming their own political outfit.

On the other hand, despite opposition from a powerful section of the party, national BJP chief Amit Shah kept his word and admitted them into the party fold without any condition. According to party sources, leaders with a strong chance of winning seats would be given BJP tickets in the Assembly polls.

Char Dham Yatra

It is after years that an unprecedented rush has been seen in the Char Dham Yatra this year. More than three lakh pilgrims have visited the four famous Hindu shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri since the portals in the Garhwal Himalayas were thrown open in the first week of May. After the June 2013 natural disaster, in which more than 5,000 pilgrims and tourists lost their lives, the number of pilgrims in Garhwal had declined substantially.

The state government after two years of tireless efforts to rebuild the infrastructure can draw satisfaction with the rush of pilgrims. The locals are happy after years as the economy of the Garhwal region is totally dependent on Char Dham Yatra.