Raman buys time, not ready for Jogi’s dream capital yet

Now saddled in power, the BJP is finding it difficult to scrap the project altogether, and has found a way to buy time. Sources say the government is also planning to remodel the project to build a satellite township in place of the ultra-modern township as originally planned.

The committee, which met yesterday under the chairmanship of Forest and Environment Minister Ganesh Ram Bhagat, failed to come up with any recommendations and decided to leave the matter to the CM. Three other ministers on the panel — Home Minister and local MLA Brij Mohan Aggarwal, Urban Development Minister Amar Aggarwal and Panchayat Minister Ajay Chandrakar — did not agree to the proposals on the project.

‘‘We will brief the CM and advise him to take an appropriate decision,’’ said Bhagat. The Urban Development Minister said the new capital project could be taken up only if the Centre agreed to fund the project.

Sources said a section of BJP leaders is keen to get the site of the project shifted to Vidhan Sabha Road, where local builders, most of them BJP sympathisers, have already bought prime land for building residential and commercial complexes. However, there is another group which is in favour of scrapping the project and building a satellite township.

But officials in the Urban Development Department said the site selected for the project was the best. ‘‘This site was recommended by eight out of nine internationally-known firms selected on the basis of global bidding. It won’t be easy for the government to change the site,’’ one of the officials said. Meanwhile, the state government’s delay in deciding on the project has made life difficult for residents of 26 villages, where the government has frozen the sale of land.