This week Uttarakhand: The Rawat ruling

Agriculture Minister Harak Singh Rawats continuance remains uncertain as ever

Agriculture Minister Harak Singh Rawats continuance remains uncertain as ever,with the Uttarakhand High Court last week reserving its ruling on a case involving alleged offices of profit. If the ruling when it comes goes against him,Rawat could lose his membership of the assembly. Rawat held the posts of chairman in Uttarakhand Seeds and Tarai Development Corporation as well as in Uttarakhand Purva Sainik Nigam Limited. The state government has included these two posts among those exempted from the office of profits bracket with retrospective effect. The minister has since resigned both posts; the oppositions case challenges the government decision as well as the ministers right to continue.

Lights off and on

The state transport department tried to block six mayors from using beacon lights on their vehicles,a move that came immediately after the Congress lost heavily in these municipal corporations in the urban elections. The mayors petitioned the government,after which Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna intervened and blocked the transport department attempt at removing the lights. Five of the municipal corporations Haridwar,Roorkee,Haldwani,Rudrapur and Kashipur have come into existence during the current Bahuguna regime; the sixth is Dehradun. Four of the six mayors are with the BJP.

Planning ahead

Former chief minister B C Khanduri,now 78,is hoping to return to the Lok Sabha from the Pauri seat,which he has represented four times but whose current MP is Satpal Maharaj of the Congress. Over the past few months,Khanduri has been spending more and more of his time in the Lok Sabha constituency. Khanduri has managed to get Tirath Singh Rawat appointed state BJP president,a move that could swing caste equations to his advantage if and when he contests the Lok Sabha election in 2014. Tirath is a Thakur,a communit with a large presence in Pauri.

Eco-zone tussle

Differences between the Centre and state came on view during a recent press conference where union minister Jairam Ramesh and Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna expressed their stands on the declaration of a 100-km stretch on the river Bhagirathi as an eco-sensitive zone. Ramesh was direct,saying the regions being an ESZ would not obstruct development projects. Bahuguna,who had registered a protest against the decision,tactfully avoided a confrontation. But the moment Ramesh had justified the ESZ,Bahuguna did intervene to say there must be a proper balance in dealing with environmental issues and development projects.

Power projects

Faced with frequent obstacles in getting clearance from the Centre for large hydro-power projects,the state government has started focusing on smaller projects. In the peipeline are 36 small projects that are expected to get clearance after an environment impact assessment. Though Uttarakhand has a high potential for power generation,it spends about Rs 84 lakh every day on purchasing power during the summer.