On the issue of permanent State capital, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress party have continued passing the buck to each other for more than a decade since Uttarakhand gained Statehood.
With Dehradun still remaining the provisional State capital, the current State Government has perpetuated confusion on the issue by undertaking construction of Vidhan Sabha and other Government buildings at Gairsain while simultaneously also undertaking the project of constructing a new Vidhan Sabha and Secretariat building in the Raipur area of Dehradun.
Mixed messages from successive State Governments and contradictory views often repeated by various politicians have exacerbated the incertitude and resulting disenchantment among the voters, opine political analysts.
Since the Congress-led State Government assumed office, party leaders, especially the Vidhan Sabha speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal have repeatedly made statements emphasising on making Gairsain the permanent State capital, at times also causing embarrassment to the Congress.
Contradictory statements by party leaders including Cabinet Minister Indira Hridayesh and Harak Singh Rawat before he left the Congress and joined BJP, also created uncomfortable situation for the Congress-led State Government under Chief Minister Harish Rawat. Recently, in his capacity as a BJP leader, Harak Singh reiterated his opinion stating that talking of the permanent State capital being established in Gairsain amounts to an attempt to keep the public in the dark.
Earlier this year during June, the deputy speaker of the assembly and Karnprayag MlA Anusuya Prasad Maikhuri had met CM Harish Rawat conveying the uncertainty and mood of the public on the Gairsain issue. He was then assured by the CM that multi-faceted development in Gairsain was on top of the State Government’s developmental agenda.
Rawat had also stated that the State Government had made its intentions on Gairsain clear by undertaking works for facilitating supply of
electricity and drinking water supply, construction of motor roads, efforts towards making Gairsain the capital of Uttarakhand State and construction of Vidhan Sabha secretariat building there. In addition to making Gairsain a district, the State will bring about multi-faceted development there, Rawat had assured at the time.
However, skeptics question the intention of the State Government citing the project on constructing the Assembly and Secretariat building at a site in Raipur, Dehradun while at the same time undertaking the construction of the assembly building in Gairsain.
Observers opine that in the State’s political scenario the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal has maintained a clear and strong stance on establishing Gairsain as the permanent State capital but fragmentation and other aspects have weakened the political strength and influence of the UKD.
In the previous year, after leader of opposition in the Vidhan Sabha and current BJP State chief, Ajay Bhatt raised the issue of making Gairsain the State capital in the assembly, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and CPI (Marxist leninist) had also reaffirmed their stance on making Gairsain the State capital.
A considerable amount of funds and other resources have been expended so far on various works associated with establishment of the permanent capital of Uttarakhand in Gairsain but the status of the issue has still remained hazy, say State political analysts.
