By Kushal Jeena
The rumors that the high command of the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party is contemplating to effect a change of guard in Uttarakhand government or not is doing the rounds nowadays in the corridors of power in the state secretariat as uncertainty prevailing in the tiny hill province has brought the governance to a standstill.
Besides, political pundits who regularly keep track of all activities of the parties and the government claim that the central leadership of the party is unhappy with the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who just registered a win from a by poll that happened after one of the BJP MLA resigned from his seat in Champawat assembly seats in Kumaon region.
The sources in the state government say central leadership of the BJP has directed the chief minister Dhami to refrain from taking any big policy decision till further direction. It may be recalled that the chief minister Dhami after taking oath had asked all ministers of his council of ministers and the bureaucrats to keep all governance related works pending till June 23 citing some auspicious reasons. However, the process of stalling government works barring day-to-day jobs is still kept in abeyance without giving any reasons.
The chief minister Dhami who after taking over reign of power for the second consecutive term has often sighted in the national capital than staying in the state capital. During his previous visits last month the chief minister who is considered close to Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, the governor of Maharashtra, has during his frequent visits to Delhi called on almost all senior party leaders including prime minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and party president J P Nadda and apprised them about the situation in state in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic.
The sources say the former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Satpal Maharaj and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Balooni have been lobbying hard to take over the reign of power from the incumbent chief minister in the event of central leadership makes up its mind to replace Dhami with a suitable leader who could lead the party to victory in the next parliamentary polls.
Pushkar Singh Dhami was sworn in as the 12th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on March 23 despite failing to win his assembly seat from Kichcha. Along with the chief minister, 8 cabinet ministers were sworn in by Uttarakhand Governor Gurmeet Singh. The eight cabinet ministers who took oath include Satpal Maharaj, Dhan Singh Rawat, Subodh Uniyal, Ganesh Joshi, Saurabh Bahuguna, Chandan Ramdas, Rekha Arya and Premchand Agarwal.
In an unprecedented event since the formation of Uttarakhand on November 9, 2000, this is the first time in the state that a political party has been repeated in Uttarakhand.
Significantly, in the 2022 assembly elections, the BJP has won 47 out of 70 assembly seats.
Dhami had replaced Tirath Singh Rawat, a BJP lawmaker from Pauri parliamentary constituency, who served the state for a very brief term. It is considered that Maharashtra governor Koshiyari played a vital role in installing Dhami as the chief minister twice as he lobbied hard for him with the RSS, parent outfit of the BJP.