Many mountains to climb for him

S.M.A. KAZMI

The effect of the phenomenon of Narendra Modi that took the entire country by storm earlier this year was also felt in the hills of Uttarakhand. The growing clout and popularity of Narendra Modi amongst masses in Uttarakhand ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections, forced the ruling Congress High Command to change the state's Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna. He was under cloud following his lackadaisical handling of the natural disaster that had struck the state in June 2013.
Vijay Bahuguna was removed as Chief Minister on February 1, 2014 and the then Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat was given the reins of the state, to add strength to the Congress party in Lok Sabha polls. However, Harish Rawat too failed to check the Modi wave in the Lok Sabha polls as BJP won all the five Lok Sabha seats of the state with huge margins in May 2014.
Since then, Chief Minister Harish Rawat, a grass-root political leader of the state has been trying to bring in efficiency in governance, fast track the rebuilding process of roads and other infrastructure damaged in the disaster and provide succor to the affected populace.
 Cutting red-tapism and choosing his own team of efficient officers with  help from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, he was able to restart the Char Dham yatra, the backbone of state's economy. With the start of the annual yatra, which was discontinued after the June 2013 natural disaster, the CM was able to reassure the pilgrims and tourists that Uttarakhand is a safe tourist and pilgrimage destination.
 On the political front, Harish Rawat also tried to bridge the gap between the people of the state, particularly with those residing in the hills and the state government. He held the first-ever session of the state assembly at Gairsain, a place in Chamoli district, billed as the permanent capital of the state during the statehood agitation. The historic session of the state Assembly was held in tents in June this year but a new building of the state Assembly is being built at Gairsain. He also decided to hold meetings of his cabinet in various districts to ensure that the ministers and bureaucrats learn about the ground-level situation in the interiors of the state. Two such cabinet meetings were held at Almora and Kedarnath during the year.
The impact of his initiative was felt in the by-elections of three assembly segments of the state held in July. Despite the Modi wave in the entire country, Harish Rawat was able to win all the three Assembly seats. While, Harish Rawat confidence grew after the Assembly by-election victory, the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition in the state, found itself in the lurch following the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ignore the claims of the state in the Union Council of Ministers. None of the five BJP MPs could find a berth in the Union Council of Ministers.
In the intra-party politics, Harish Rawat marginalised all other factions of the Congress and was able to get his own protégé Kishore Updhaya as state unit chief. While, politically, the group led by former CM ND Tewari was completely marginalised, at the personal level too Tewari accepted Rohit Shekhar as his son in a paternity court case.