He had accused forest minister Uniyal for abuse & using casteist slur
Thursday, 04 January 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
A day after he created a furore in the political circles by staging a dharna outside the residence of the forest minister Subodh Uniyal, the BJP MLA from Purola reserved (SC) constituency, Durgeshwar Lal has performed a complete somersault on the issue. Interacting with the media persons on Wednesday, the MLA said the issue is closed now. He also expressed regret for tearing off the letter in which the forest minister had directed the head of forest (HoF) Anup Mallik to take action on the complaint of the BJP MLA.
It is apparent that the annoyance expressed by chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and the terse directive of the State BJP chief Mahendra Bhatt forced the defiant MLA to change his stance. On Tuesday the MLA had visited the forest minister with a demand that two Divisional Forest Officers (DFO) posted in Uttarkashi district should be removed. On his complaint the minister had directed the HoF, Malik to get the complaint of the MLA investigated from the Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF) Garhwal. The MLA reportedly got angry at it and tore the letter and sat on dharna outside the residence of the minister along with his supporters. He also claimed that the minister abused him and hurled casteist slur at him. The MLA later met the CM and complained about the behaviour of the minister. He reportedly got emotional during his meeting with the CM. The entire episode involving the cabinet minister and the MLA of the party created an uncomfortable situation for the State BJP. The state party chief Mahendra Bhatt directed both the minister and the MLA to maintain dignity. He said that the leaders should not get involved in such behaviour which will draw the attention of the media and give a chance to the opposition to criticise the party and government.
