Arya vs Rawat

Cabinet Minister Yashpal Arya, who was second-in-command in the Vijay Bahuguna regime, is in deep trouble with ex-MlA and Advisor to CM (Industrial development) Ranjit Singh Rawat breathing down his neck. In Bajpur Assembly constituency, every fourth person owns a tractor and earns living through mining. Now, the ex- MlA has awarded the mining tender to a business group operating from Delhi @ Rs 35 crore, landing the redoubtable Minister in the soup. Although Arya is the Revenue Minister in the Harish Rawat Government his status comes next that of the State Finance Minister Indira Hridayesh. Arya, who is known for his penchant to go out of reach whenever the situation spirals out of his control, has this time expressed his displeasure to Chief Minister Harish Rawat. As a gesture of dissent, he did not attend the CM’s review meeting in Dehradun, citing eye flu. Now question is- would CM Rawat kowtow before Arya and goes out of his way to mollycoddle him and in case CM genuflects, how would he bring his close confidante Ranjit Rawat on boardIJ

Wily Advisor

In a bid to increase the State’s financial resources, Chief Minister Harish Rawat invited suggestions from all quarters. An advisor suggested that in view of the Narendra Modi Government reducing prices of petroleum products quite often, the State Government should curtail its subsidy for the same. By doing this, we would be able to add Rs 70 crore per annum to the State’s coffers, he said. Moreover, it will go unnoticed. The end users would be happy that the State has not added to their burden. It would be a win-win situation for both the Government and the people, the wily advisor said.