Candid Notes 

Friday, 28 February 2025 | Gajendra Singh Negi

Anti-climax

In an anti-climax of sorts, the unsavoury incidents in the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha during the recent budget session triggered by alleged use of a cuss word by Parliamentary Affairs minister Prem Chand Aggarwal against the people of mountainous origin took the limelight away from what the government claimed as the stringent land laws designed by it. Understandably, the Pushkar Singh Dhami government was hoping that the placement and passage of the bill on the much awaited land laws will generate goodwill and emanate a positive message everywhere in a manner similar to the law on Uniform Civil Code.  However, the ‘Pahad versus Maidan’ controversy started by utterances of Agarwal assumed such a mammoth proportions with people using social media platforms to express their anger on the insult that land laws took a backseat to Pahadi pride and CM Dhami himself had to do some plain talking with the recalcitrant minister and engage in a damage control exercise. The camp followers of the CM Dhami are now probing into the reasons for the fiasco that unfolded in the Vidhan Sabha, created an embarrassment for the government and dashed its plans on the land laws.

Bright Butola

An emotional outburst by Congress MLA from Badrinath, Lakhpat Singh Butola, in registering a vehement protest on the abuse hurled by Parliamentary Affairs minister Prem Chand Aggarwal on the people of mountainous areas in the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha, has made him an instant hero in the hills of the State. Also, the sternness exhibited by the speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan in reprimanding Butola portrayed her as a villain in the social media circles to such an extent that she had to publically air her antecedents and deep rooted connection with the hills to calm the frayed nerves of the people. The action of greenhorn MLA and the wave of support he elicited among people of mountainous origin is learnt to have caused heartburns for other Congress MLAs including seasoned leaders who are now rueing the missed opportunity of extending support to Butola when he was raising the issue of abusive language of the minister inside the house.

Smart minister

The failure of aging Agriculture minister Ganesh Joshi to differentiate between natural and traditional farming during the recent budget session of Vidhan Sabha elicited laughter from both the treasury and opposition benches and caused embarrassment to the government even as the speaker suspended the question asked by a BJP MLA. However the saving grace for the government was the performance of young ministers Saurabh Bahuguna and Dhan Singh Rawat. Spearheading the crucial Education and Health portfolios, Rawat in particular was brilliant in fending off a spirited attack launched by the opposition stalwarts Yashpal Arya and Pritam Singh on the poor health and education infrastructure and lack of doctors in the State. It is learnt that apart from preparing well for the session, the minister also held one to one interaction with the members who had submitted questions related to his departments for the crucial question hour. The interaction helped the minister in understanding the grudge of members and answering the possible supplementary questions the members could throw at him with gusto.