Capital Ideas

The debate over whether or not the session has benefited the region is not yet over, but already many political groups are going a step ahead, demanding that an assembly session alone won8217;t do 8212; Dharamsala should be the winter capital.

The chief minister is opposed to this, even though some MLAs from his Congress party, too, are in favour of a winter capital. Giving full cry to the demand, though, is the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP, chiefly its former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.

A year before he lost power to Singh in 2003, Dhumal had had a Rs 4 crore mini-secretariat constructed at Dharamsala. By pressing for the winter capital now, Dhumal is trying to project himself and his party as having worked to serve Kangra.

8220;What we had conceived was to take the government closer to the people, to those who don8217;t have the means to reach Shimla for their work,8221; says Dhumal. 8220;The idea was that the chief minister, ministers, and top officials would be stationed in Dharamsala for a month or two. Since Shimla is under snow during those months, work could be done in Dharamsala.8221;

Actually it has been Singh who has faced complaints of discrimination against Kangra; the BJP has always considered the region its bastion. Therefore, he has been eager to pander to regional feelings with winter sessions, visits, and so forth. He has had the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education headquartered in the region, appointed a divisional commissioner, and had offices of chief engineers of various departments opened there.

8220;The decision to organise the session was not taken in a huff or so abruptly,8221; he says. 8220;It was a well-thought-out decision.8221; He points to the several steps initiated in the region during his previous tenures, the Rs 100 crore projects launched during the last winter session, and development projects worth another Rs 100 crore.

But he doesn8217;t buy the idea of declaring Dharamsala a second capital, asserting that a small state like Himachal can8217;t afford it.

8220;This is neither undesirable nor feasible. The decision will impose a huge financial burden on the exchequer.8221;

Dhumal and the BJP, which has always raised the regional-disparity bogey to vex Singh, see it differently. 8220;Who will justify a Rs 9 crore complex just for a four-day session? Instead, this money should be been invested on creating infrastructure, like a secretariat etc in the state. In this age of technology, there is no need to shift whole of the secretariat. All functions could be run from Dharamsala easily.8221;

For Singh, therefore, it will be a tough balancing act to live on with the current arrangement and keep himself afloat and satisfy the forces of regionalism.