Friday, 22 September 2023 | Gajendra Singh Negi | DEHRADUN
Pushkar power
The BJP high command’s decision to assign duty to chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in the poll- bound Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan has exulted the supporters of the young CM. Dhami held a series of public meetings and road shows in both these states during his recent three- day whirlwind tour. For the staunch camp followers of Dhami, the tours signify his ascending clout and stature in the national politics and they attribute it to a slew of tough decisions which included a strict anti-copying act and his all-out crusade against Land Jihad in the Himalayan State. They also cite his resolute pursuance of the Uniform Civil Code which, if enacted, would make Uttarakhand the first State in the country to do so having caught the doting attention of the saffron top brass. However, Dhami’s soaring clout will be tested at home in the context of the cabinet expansion and reshuffle that has been hanging fire for a long time and the appointment of the position holders in various boards and commissions. His followers are keenly awaiting the leverage their leader gets in having the leaders of his choice foisted in the cabinet and in positions of power in the government.
Foulmouthed MLA
The amazing manipulative skills of the former CM Harish Rawat were on display once again when he sought to shield the Congress MLA from Dwarahat Madan Bisht who came under fire by raking up the issue of the government officers not picking up the phones of the opposition leaders and social workers. Bisht sparked a public outrage over the incident in which he tried to barge into the residence of the director of an engineering college. In a video which has gone viral, the inebriated Congress MLA is heard using the choicest of expletives as he was threatening the director of the college. Rawat is justified in stating that some babus have developed a habit of ignoring the phone calls of the opposition leaders to curry favour with their masters in the ruling party. However, the wily leader’s attempt to justify the Congress MLA’s rowdy behaviour is definitely unwarranted.
Promotee hegemony
The recent selection for the plum assignments of senior superintendents of police (SSP) of Dehradun and Haridwar districts has reaffirmed the unflinching confidence the Dhami government has on the promotee officers. Both Ajai Singh and Parmendra Dobhal who were given SSP postings in key districts of Dehradun and Haridwar respectively are relatively junior officers in the IPS cadre hierarchy and both are promotees. Similarly, the promotee officers in the IAS cadre are holding plum positions in the State administration. The promotees are functioning as district magistrates in major districts like Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar. In the State secretariat too, the promotees seem to have an upper hand as most of the powerful and plum positions are being manned by them, leaving the elite club of the direct IAS officers who consider themselves as divinely chosen ones with blue blood, sulking.
