The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Friday, November 10, 2000,
Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

M A I N N E W S

Uttaranchal ministry today
From Baljit Singh
Tribune News Service

DEHRA DUN, Nov 9 — Following the swearing-in of Mr Nityanand Swami as Chief Minister of the new state of Uttaranchal late last night, the focus has shifted to his putative ministry.

Originally slated for swearing-in at 3.30 p.m. today, the ministry formation was postponed for a day as the CM, Governor and top bureaucrats left for Nainital early this morning to inaugurate the new high court building.

The ministry formation, which will now take place in the Parade Ground at 10 am tomorrow, has earned the Chief Minister, a relative outsider in Uttaranchal politics who was brought in mostly because there was no consensus on a candidate, a reprieve from the agitation that followed his election. Legislators who were vocal yesterday in opposing the ‘imposition’ of the ageing MLC from Dehra Dun were guarded in their reactions today.

Mr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Minister for Culture in the UP Government and the hottest contender for the CM’s post, told The Tribune that following Mr Swami’s election, the issue was closed and they must now look ahead to the task of governance.

Brushing aside rumours that he might be taken on as Deputy-Chief Minister to appease agitated hill cadres, he said a Deputy CM was undesirable for the small UP Cabinet. He also sought to belie the impression that he represented only a ‘pahari’ constituency by saying that after fighting hard to include US Nagar and Hardwar in the new state, it would be short-sighted to now discriminate in any way against its residents. Looking to the future, he said the IT park outside Dehra Dun and developing an info-tech sector was his top priority.

Mr Mattar Singh Khandhari, also a UP Minister and contender in the CM race, evaded comment on Mr Swami’s election. A Cabinet probable, he too sought to project an open mind on issues. Thus on the controversial issue of excluding outsiders from owning property in the new state along the lines of Himachal, he said no such move was on the party’s agenda. Instead, its priority was development and outside investors were more than welcome.

On the other major issue of prohibition, he favoured a ban on country liquor referred to as pouches in the hills. As for IMFL, he said its sale should be channelised through the Kumaon and Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigams so that the revenue earned could be used by these two corporations for building up tourism and basic infrastructure.

Other minister hopefuls have been similarly outward looking in their statements. Mr Kedar Singh Fonia, MLA from the backward region of Badri-Kedar, felt that the CM should choose one minister each from the state’s 13 districts, a view unlikely to be endorsed by the BJP’s four MLCs.

The party’s first Rajya Sabha MP from Uttaranchal, also a one-time contender for the CM and the leader least affected by the imminent Cabinet formation, Mr Manohar Kant Dhyani, was more expansive on the controversy that surrounded Mr Swami’s induction as CM.

Giving an unusual twist to his disapproval of Mr Swami he said that while Mr Swami, could well come to terms with the problem of the hills, the fact that he had not been directly associated with the agitation for the state made it hard for those who had made personal sacrifices for the agitation to bond with him. What he left unsaid was that when the agitation was at its peak after 1994, Mr Swami was Deputy Speaker and later Speaker of the UP Vidhan Parishad and thus in no position to take to the streets.

One of the few MLAs who were unequivocal in their support for Mr Swami was Mr Harbans Kapur, four-time MLA and the BJP’s first MLA from Uttaranchal back in 1989.