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STATES Omar: In a state of twitter the National Conference-Congress coalition government is set to complete five years in office on January 5, 2014, but the life of the state Legislative Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir is six years. A senior National Conference minister aptly remarked: “There is no government, it is election time.” Such is the cynicism within the government, despite the fact that the Assembly elections are over an year away and it is not curtains down yet for the NC-Congress coalition. The people find themselves helpless in the wake of rising corruption, where everything is on sale. Dreams of many young men and women were shattered when it was discovered that the level of corruption had risen to such an extent that the question papers of the MBBS examination were sold by none other than the (former) Chairman of the Board of Professional Entrance Examination, Mushtaq Peer, who was ironically given an extension twice by the government. Kashmir also saw many other black spots, ranging from the killing of soldiers on the borders to the hinterland, communal clashes in Kishtwar and the ever-hanging threat of communalism, which raised its head again. The Kashmir problem is once again in focus. There has been a reversal of the democratic process. The process of democratisation initiated by holding of panchayat elections, which was to be completed with the block development and zila parishad elections, did not move even an inch forward. Even the elections to urban local bodies, too, have not been conducted. When the Congress was routed in the four states — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Chhattisgarh — the National Conference was smiling because the sentiment was that the Congress could no longer dictate anything to the NC. It was in this context that the Kashmir-centric parties, National Conference and People’s Democratic Party, vied with each other to raise the pitch over the hanging of the Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and made it a huge issue. They were hoping that it would swing the separatist sentiment their way and deliver electoral benefits to them. Omar Abdullah, the always-available-on-Twitter Chief Minister, declared as if Doomsday had arrived in the Valley and the hanging would define anything happening in the state. It impacted the situation in such a way that the Chief Minister raised the issue of the political problem of Kashmir at a function to mark the flagging off of the train from the south of Pir Panjal to the north, thereby effectively linking the Kashmir Valley to the rest of the country. Omar said that economic benefits and connectivity would not be effective unless and until the political problem of Kashmir was resolved. He announced this in the presence of the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. As if that was not enough, Omar Abdullah read out a key point of the speech of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi even before it was delivered. He said that Modi would ask for the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution. Modi did speak about Article 370 and called for a debate on its merits and demerits. As the debate gained momentum, the state is trying to find its feet which are on a sticky wicket at the moment.
Bahuguna’s baptism
uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna faced the toughest task of his life this year in June as his state faced the unprecedented natural disaster caused by massive floods that killed more than 5,000 people and devastated a large part of the state. It was a test of his administrative capabilities and political acumen to rescue the stranded people and then to provide succour to the affected population. He seems to have floundered on both counts. On June 15 and 16 massive floods, caused by unprecedented rains, in the mid-Himalayan region of the state brought massive destruction of life and property. Thousands were killed at Kedarnath temple and other places. As roads and bridges were washed away, more than one lakh pilgrims and tourists were stranded at various places in the Garhwal hills during the peak tourist and pilgrimage season. The state administrative machinery failed to react promptly. After initial inertia, the Chief Minister coordinated the rescue and relief efforts with Army, Air Force, National Disaster Relief Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the state government machinery. The CM faces the Herculean task of rebuilding the state’s infrastructure in the worst-affected districts of Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar districts. The relief operations with liberal help from the Central Government as the state PWD and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) repaired the fractured road infrastructure. The Chief Minister faced criticism for his alleged failure to handle the natural crisis not only from the Opposition BJP but also from his own party factions. Senior Congress leaders, particularly those belonging to Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat faction, questioned his moves. Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal, a staunch Rawat supporter, had been publicly critical of the state government on whether it was on the issue of the permanent capital at Gairsain, building of two state assembly buildings at Gairsain and Raipur.
After the defeat of his son Saket Bahuguna in the Tehri Garhwal Lok Sabha byelections in October 2012, Bahuguna suffered another humiliation in the civic elections held in April 2013 when the Congress was completely and thoroughly trounced. The defeat of the Congress party in the recently concluded Assembly elections in four states has again given fuel to the rumors that a change of guard is imminent in the state. It would be seen whether the Congress leadership which stood by him during the natural disaster continue to support him or not in the coming year. A high court judge-turned politician, Bahuguna is awaiting the judgment from the party bosses in New Delhi.
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