“Khanduri Zaroori Hai” (Khanduri is necessary) is the feverish pitch on which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is running its campaign in Uttarakhand seeking people's support for a second term for its government headed by Maj. Gen. (Retd) B.C. Khanduri. Banking on his squeaky clean image, the party is at pains to convince voters that its previous Chief Minister Mr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank may have been removed by them on suspected charges of corruption in September last, but the party is serious about providing a clean government now, under the leadership of Mr Khanduri.
Though nothing ever was proved against Mr Nishank, it was a general perception that governance under his leadership had reached a nadir — to an extent that nothing happened without money changing hands. It was to eradicate this impression that Mr Khanduri, who had been removed from the post after 2009 Lok Sabha (LS) elections when the party inexplicably lost all the five LS seats in the State, had been brought in. To be fair to the man, he has indeed succeeded in putting the party back in fighting by a slew of quick administrative measures which indicate his serious intent of providing good governance. A contest, which looked horribly one-sided initially, has become a close call now between the Congress and the BJP.
The tiny hill state has 70 Assembly seats and the two main parties have alternately ruled it since the first Assembly election in 2002, when the Congress had won. In the last assembly election in 2007, the BJP had emerged a winner, replacing the Congress Government led by Mr N.D. Tiwari, a stalwart from this area, despite the good work that he had done during his tenure. But the party soon frittered away the support it earned as factions within the party — led by former Chief Minister Mr Bhagat Singh Koshyari, an RSS favourite, and another chief ministerial aspirant Mr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank — started working at cross purposes. The result was the disastrous performance in 2009 Lok Sabha elections. An internal enquiry had then hinted at internal sabotage with Mr Khanduri's rivals baying for his blood. Mr Koshyari even threatened to resign from his Rajya Sabha seat. He could be placated only after Mr Khanduri offered to resign. The party readily accepted his resignation, replacing him with Mr Nishank.
But even Mr Nishank had to face internal feuding along with corruption charges. Though he himself was not named in any corruption scandals, his close associates figured in a number of scams and corruption became the bane of his Government. The general impression then was that nothing moves in the Government without greasing palms. The Congress has issued a list of 419 scams during the BJP's tenure, including mismanagement during Kumbh, shoddy disaster management, Sturdia land-use scam (involving arbitrary change of land-use policy) and corruption in medicine purchases. None of these charges, however, were ever proved.
Back in the reckoning
In September 2011 though, the party decided to replace Mr Nishank and bring back Mr Khanduri, giving him the task of putting the party back on rails. The irrepressible army man that he is, Mr Khanduri went about his job ruthlessly though he admitted to this correspondent that he was faced with a daunting challenge. Given only months, he has, no doubt, put the party back in the fray, even though he does not have much result to show as yet on the ground. But he has shown the intent to deliver; and that is what people in the State are appreciating, say political observers. Several of his initiatives have become popular, with the general impression being that if he returns as the Chief Minister, which his party has promised, he will mean business. Among the initiatives that he has taken are several legislative measures bringing in necessary administrative reforms to reduce red tape.
The most significant of these initiatives is the Lokayukta Bill which brings all ministers, including the Chief Minister, and legislators in its ambit. This Bill now awaits the Centre's approval. He has also passed the Uttarakhand Right to Service Act, bringing 80 basic services under the purview of this act which are mandated to be provided within a prescribed time extendable twice under appeal. His Government has also passed the Uttarakhand Special Courts Act, 2011 to enable setting up of special courts to deal with cases related to corruption daily without adjournment. In these special courts, cases are expected to conclude within a year. In order to deal with the issue of frequent transfers of Government officials which hamper performance, he has got the Uttarakhand Transfer for Public Servants Act passed.
“We are absolutely confident of victory as we have worked for all sections of people and have taken effective steps to improve governance. We have shown our intent to curb corruption and have taken measures to provide relief to people from rampaging high prices by reducing VAT. Our vote percentage is going to increase by 2-4 per cent from the last time,” says the BJP National Executive Member, Mr Naresh Bansal, who is in charge of party affairs in Dehradun. As for allegations of corruption against the previous Nishank Government, he says they remained only allegations: nothing was ever proved. “Besides, we have shown our intent to curb corruption by passing the Lokayukta Bill which brings even the chief minister in its ambit. What else can you ask?” he says.
Congress: 2009 recap
The Congress, on the other hand, is hoping to ride on factors which had led to an impressive performance during the last Lok Sabha elections and the non-performance of the BJP Government during the last five years. “We have a list of 419 scams during BJP regime. It was a totally non-performing Government. Whatever work the previous Congress Government had started, this Government stopped it. For example, the medical college at Rishikesh on the lines of AIIMS, which was started by the Tiwari Government, has been abandoned. Besides, they replaced Khanduri in 2009 but they have still not explained why was he replaced and why has he been brought back now. He presided over the party's defeat in Lok Sabha election and nothing has changed since then,” says Congress spokesman Mr Surinder Agrawal in Dehradun. He says the Congress will form the Government with a clear majority.
The game changer?
Adding to the Congress's high hopes is a new party called Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha (URM), in the fray for the first time. The party is headed by Lt Gen. (Retd) T.P.S. Rawat, a former Minister in the Tiwari Government who had left his Dhumakot Assembly seat for Mr Khanduri in 2007 after the latter became the Chief Minister. Mr Rawat had then joined the BJP, which he left in August last year, disgusted with the corruption in the State and the BJP high command's apathy to complaints in this regard. According to Mr Rawat, his party, which is attracting a number of educated and employed people, besides a substantial number of retired and serving defence personnel who form a bulk of Uttarakhnad's population, will act as a “catalyst” to force the two main parties to talk about “real people's issues” such as good governance, transparent administration and good leadership. “What we are saying is that despite the creation of a separate State, people's quality of life has not really improved — their basic problems remain as it is. So we need good leadership to bring about change,” says the retired General. But the fact remains that if he does make a dent in the electoral fray, the loss would be that of the BJP because the section of voters he is targeting have been mainly BJP supporters, giving the Congress an edge. “URM will take away BJP's votes and in a State where candidates win with very thin margins, even a few hundred votes this way or that way, make a difference,” says the Congress spokesman.
BSP factor
While the main contest remains between the Congress and BJP, the Bahujan Samaj Party, which had won eight seats last time, remains a major presence in the plains of Uttarakhand, especially in areas like Haridwar and Udham Singhnagar which are pitched for a triangular contest, and the BSP, which secured 12 per cent votes last time , looks comfortably placed.
But the two main parties are battling internal feuding, which is at times spilling over on to the streets as well. While the BJP is a bigger victim, having denied tickets to over a dozen of its sitting Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA), the Congress too is facing a similar problem. One such rebel BJP candidate is Mr Kedar Singh Fonia, a Minister who has been denied renomination. He is now contesting from the Badrinath seat on a URM ticket. Mr Khanduri himself may have to face internal rebellion from the Kotdwara seat from where he is contesting as the sitting MLA Mr Shailendra Singh Rawat has been denied ticket.
The problem, though not this serious, is bad for the Congress as well. The former Chief Minister, Mr Tiwari, is known to be unhappy as several of his candidates have been denied tickets and he is not likely to campaign for the party. Mr Tiwari continues to be a force to reckon with in the Kumaon region, but even he had to face the ire of Congress workers in Gadarpur area of Udham Singhnagar district, from where his nephew Mr Manish Tiwari has been given the ticket. The Congress workers were so unhappy at his nomination that they attacked him when he went to file his nomination papers. Mr Tiwari had to personally camp in neighbouring Pantnagar area to “manage” the rebels in a marathon three-hour-long meeting, and then had to visit Gadarpur to pacify the party workers. The Congress is also in trouble in neighbouring Haldwani seat from where Ms Indira Hridayesh, a number two in the Tiwari Government, is the official candidate but is facing Ms Renu Adhikari, who had recently shifted from the Congress to the BJP on being denied a ticket and is now in the fray as a BJP candidate. In a close contest, rebellion is a major source of worry for both the parties. Incidentally, since the difference in vote percentage for the BJP and the Congress was only 2 per cent last time, the contest becomes an interesting one as even a marginal shift can make a huge difference this time. The Congress had got 30 per cent votes last time and 21 seats to the BJP's 32 per cent votes and 34 seats.
Whither common man?
What, however, is interesting to observe is the fact that issues which affect people's day-to-day lives get buried in the hurly-burly of politics as election approaches. Basic needs, such as roads, drinking water, good health services and employment, remain a pipe dream for a vast majority in the State, despite promises galore to this effect since its creation. “Who is there to listen to us? Whether it is a Congress Government or BJP Government, we poor will remain poor. Garib ki kaun suntahai ? (Who listens to the poor?)” says Mr Sohan Singh Rawat of Kaudia village in Rishikesh. “Aspirations of people are high. They have realised that their lives have not improved despite the creation of the State and this is exactly what we are saying. We need change and we need good leadership to bring about that change,” says Lt Gen. (Retd) Rawat.
Will this election bring that change? Remains to be seen. Besides, Team Anna members are also campaigning in the State. Uttarakhand being a State which has adopted their Jan Lokpal Bill as its own Lokayukta Bill, it remains to be seen how much of a difference this will make.