Uttarakhand looking for change...

UTTARAKHAND ELECTIONS

Amitabh Shukla

Dehradun, February 3, 2007

Uttarakhand’s Capital, gripped by the election fever, has its own Connaught Place. A run down commercial road and a poor cousin of its Delhi counterpart. But the voters here are perplexed and amused by the load of promises made by the two main parties – Congress and the BJP.

“It has been over seven years since the formation of the state. The civic standards have only fallen and the sleepy town of retired officials have been rudely awoken by the massive increase of vehicles and pollution,” said retired bureaucrat K.K. Sharma.

For the residents of the city, the issues at stake are immediate – cleaning of the city, restoring it to its pristine past and if possible shift the Capital to some other place.

For the two parties fighting for their stake to form the next government after the polls on February 1, charges and counter charges form the main poll agenda. Battling an anti incumbency mood, the Congress is harping on the achievements under Chief Minister N.D. Tiwary.

“Development is the main issue and all other factors have taken a backseat,” said Surendra Kumar, chief spokesman of the Congress in Uttarahand. Kumar lists the achievements of the Tiwary government – establishing industrial estates, Rs 20,000 crore of investment, a clean and better administration etc. He compares it with the short-lived BJP regime after the state formation and charged the party with pursuing divisive and anti-development politics.

Sensing an opportunity and under an impression that the people of the state are fed up with five years of Congress rule, the BJP has brought into focus the national issue of price rise and how it was affecting every section of society. It has released the figures of what the prices were five years ago during its regime and what are the current prices. The list has figures which show 50 to 100 percent increase.

“They have failed the people of the state which was carved out of Uttar Pradesh for a new identity and speedy development,” said Vishwas Dawar, chief spokesman of the BJP. The number of unemployed has only grown, the promises made five years ago still remain on papers and the core issues have not been handled at all. The core issues according to the BJP is economic growth of the hill areas, preventing large-scale migration to cities like Delhi and Mumbai and providing employment opportunities in the state itself.

Both the parties have something in common too. None of them have projected anyone as the chief ministerial candidate. Tiwary has opted out of the fray leaving the party high command with several choices. The BJP too hasn’t projected anyone and says the issue would be settled only after the polls.

BOX

Total seats – 70

(General - 55, SC – 12, ST – 3)

Number of voters in 2002 polls

Men : 271,3347

Women: 255,7028

Total: 527,0375

Poll percentage : 54.34 percent

Party position in 2002 polls

BJP : 19 ( 25.4 percent)

Congress : 36 (26.91 percent)

BSP : 7 (10.93 percent)

Uttarakhand

Kranti Dal (UKD) : 4 (5.49 percent)

Independents : 3 (16.3 percent)

NCP : 1 (1.5 percent)

Samajwadi Party : 0 (6.27 percent)