BJP may hold the budget session in GAIRSAIN to assuage peoples’ anger

There are reports pouring in that the chief minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat and his cabinet which had been completely ignorant, insensitive and non serious on the demand of Gairsain thinking that it will never crystalize into a serious and cohesive widespread movement and had even time and again said that Gairsain is a an impossibility, not being the core issue of BJP’s election menifesto are now looking serious towards this demand, rather backtracking, under compelling circumstances.

If reliable sources are to be believed the increasing spate of protest demonstrations, anti government processions and hunger strike protests in Gairsain and different parts of Garhwal and Kumaon in Uttarakhand including the capital of the country Delhi by journalists, literateurs, movements activists, youth, students women, senior citizens, social organisations and even activists of various political parties across ideological affiliations having far reaching implications, the BJP government in Uttatakhand under the advise of the BJP high command has finally relented and is holding the entire Budget session in Gairsain in the immediate future to assuage the feelings of the Gairsain movement activists and send across the message that the party in power in the state and the centre is really serious to give a priority thought and honour peoples’ wishes in this context.

What comes out of the widespread Gairsain movement in the hills of Uttarakhand is anybody’s guess but one thing has now become absolutely unambiguous that the massive movement at the decentralized level and the way it has acknowledged widespread coverage in the media has undoubtedly led to exerting pressure on the BJP government of the state to give a serious thinking on this issue which was earlier a non issue for them.

It may be recalled that the issue of Gairsain capital is primarily an emotional as well as a technically feasible demand of the inhabitants of Uttarakhand as not only was it propagated by the great freedom fighter and revolutionery of UK and the country Late Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali who was born in Dudhatoli, Gairsain, reverred and praised widely but Baba Mohan Singh Uttarakhandi also sacrificed his life by undertaking 100 days fast.

Moreover, having been recommended by the Kaushik Samitee as an appropriate choice technically being equi distance from Garhwal and Kumaon it has it is equally relevant and acceptable from al points of view. Apart from these factors, Gairsain has been the unanimous choice of all the separate state Uttarakhand movement activistsand forces who’d made the separate state a dream come true after years of relentless struggle and so much of sacrifice.

It is usually said that the Gairsain capital symbolises the decentralised socio economic, political, agricultural, educational and health avenues related development of the 17 year old state as the day Gairsain becomes the state’s capital the develooment process would shift in the interior areas comprising of villages. When policies and developmental activities would shift in the interior vicinities its obvious the villages and rural pupulation would achieve the fruits of development and the process of revetse migration would simultaneously gear up.

The issue of Gairsain have been heating up since 2011 and it was during the former CM Vijay Bahuguna’s tenure during 2013 that under extreme peoples’pressure and the latter’s urge to prove his political mettle due to his then bete noire Harish Rawat’s constant manipulations to challenge his leadership, did Bahuguna got the Assembly Secretariat building constructed with a massive budget of more than 500 crores and declared it as the summer capital.

At present, the capital and entire secretariat being in Dehradun, no minister, lawmaker and bureaucrat intends to go deep down to the interior villages resulting in neglible development and acute lack of health, educational, agricultural and other form of infrastructural development thus leading to the massive influx to cities and village becoming peoples less turning in ghost villages thus defeating the concept and purpose for which Uttarakhand was actually created as an independent entity.

There are indications that though declaring Gairsain as the permanent capital of UK is a distant possibility for now due to various compelling reasons but keeping in view the massive pressure of the movement it may perhaps declare it as the permanent capital of the state to timely assuage the feelings and anger of the activists.
SUNIL NEGI