For U'khand CM, Celebrations Can Wait

While for Hamlet ‘to be or not to be’ was an existential question, for Harish Rawat, the Uttarakhand chief minister, to rejoice or to worry is no less a dilemma. He has won the floor test in Uttarakhand but bigger challenges lurk in the corner.

He for example is deeply concerned over the fate of the Appropriation Bill, which as per the Speaker, was passed by the assembly but the BJP and the Centre took the stand that in the Assembly the Bill was actually defeated and clamped President’s Rule in the state. Rawat meanwhile has won the court-monitored floor test and both houses of Parliament has also passed the state’s appropriation bill.

While it is not known whether the state’s appropriation bill presented to the Parliament was substantially different from the one passed by the Assembly, the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s assurance that the state assembly could make changes in the bill now that President’s Rule has been revoked and the assembly revived, indicated that some changes may have been made.

But  Rawat’s worry is to find ways to end the bitterness and confrontation with the Centre. “Instead of getting into a confrontation, I will certainly consult legal opinion of both the situations and see what is the best way out”, said the worried chief minister.

Referring to President’s Rule imposed days before the end of the financial year in March, he said, “Killing March means killing half of the developmental process. And, April-May months normally go in laying out the future developmental work of the state besides spending the unspent money of March. To go back now and pick up the threads from there when much time has been wasted is going to be an enormously difficult job,” says Rawat.
 
He is not in a mood to antagonise anyone and is willing to reach out to everyone whoever is important for Uttarakhand, especially the Centre. “I will certainly urge the central government to treat us as part of the union of India. Let’s forget the past and make a new beginning. To strengthen democracy and the federal structure of India, and to make India a developed economy, we as a state also have a role to play. The Centre should allow us to play our role in whatever small way we can contribute”.

Contrary to speculation and demands from certain quarters that the state should go for early elections to cash in on the expected sympathy wave, Rawat feels that even though holding elections will be beneficial for the party, 2016 being the last year of the current assembly is very crucial. “If we get into the election mode now, we will not only waste the rest of the months of 2016 but also next year because attention will get diverted and “the state cannot afford it,” says Rawat.

His primary concern is to get clarity on the fate of the Appropriation Bill and bring centre-state relationship back on track. He would like the Prime Minister send a message to the people of the state that he cares for Uttarakhand too.

For Rawat, a cabinet reshuffle is secondary. There are two vacant seats but Rawat is not in a hurry to fill them. The BSP extended support to the Congress in the recent crisis and speculation is rife that the BSP MLAs might get accommodated in the vacant seats. But Rawat is diplomatic; he is full of praise for Mayawati for her support to UPA I and II and her subsequent “unconditional” support but he is not willing to reveal his hand on inducting the BSP into the cabinet.

On the CBI probe against him, Rawat is willing to cooperate with the investigations. However, he feels that the investigating agency should inquire into the allegations in totality. Questions are being raised on how instruments to conduct a sting operation could be taken inside a high security zone. “Who allowed it, how did it happen?” he wonders.

The person who did the sting, according to Rawat, says that an operation has started to topple the government. Therefore the fact that a plot was being hatched to topple an elected government is “in itself a crime”. Besides, he says, “the person on whom the sting operation has been conducted, is he talking about money exchange? No. However, the person who violated all norms by selling the CD to somebody else without seeking permission and not showing it in his own channel is allowed to go scot free”.

“Therefore, the person who is a victim is being presented as an accused and the conspirator is being treated like a hero. The CBI is a serious investigating agency which looks into serious economic offences or subversive activities. It is for the CBI now to decide whether they should inquire into allegations against me.”

The leadership has instructed Rawat to focus on developmental work. He has been told to work hard to “turn the sympathy of the people into faith, which will come only through development”.

On the charges of corruption levelled against him by the BJP, Rawat says the alleged misdeeds happened when he was not the chief minister and the person whom the BJP called corrupt is now part of the party. “Therefore, it is the BJP’s problem to enquire whether he is honest or not”.