With the induction of Ajay Tamta into the Union Council of Ministers, Almora district has emerged as a power house of the State politics, nudging the leaders of other districts to nurse their wounds. A galaxy of persons from Almora district in Kumaon region is holding important positions in the state. The Chief Minister Harish Rawat and the Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal hail from the same district aside from the leader of the Opposition Ajay Bhatt and two Rajya Sabha MPs Pradeep Tamta and Mahendra Singh Mahra. Now, the latest entrant to the list is the just inducted Union minister of state Ajay Tamta.
Although the induction Ajay Tamta into the Union council of ministers as a minister of state has taken the political circles by surprise his ascendancy in the political hierarchy was expected. Observers say that his election to the lok Sabha from Almora constituency by defeating the Congress’s Dalit face and sitting MP Pradeep Tamta during general election-2014 had helped his stature shoot up a great deal. “There is no element of surprise in it if things are considered dispassionately. His ascendancy was rather awaited, given his status as a promising Dalit leader in the state’s saffron camp,” said an observer.
The move is being been seen as one to counteract CM Harish Rawat’s game plan to consolidate the Dalit vote bank behind Congress by foisting Pradip Tamta on a reluctant Congress as the Rajya Sabha member. He boasted the fact many a time before and after the election that Pradip Tamta would the first Dalit to get into the precincts of the Upper House of the Parliament since Uttarakhand came into being in 2000. There was little option left to the BJP but to counterbalance the crafty move of Harish Rawat, give the fact that the Dalit community enjoys a sizeable part of the state’s electorate.
Though many in the saffron camp might have been annoyed with the three satraps-all former CMs- Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Maj Gen Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri and Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank -being dumped the massage is loud and clear-Ajay Tamta would be the first member of the Union government from Uttarakhand, a fact that the BJP can use up to the tilt to wean the community away from the Congress in the election a few months away . “This is part of the BJP’s strategy of Dalit empowerment and Dalit endearment. Though still bereft of a portfolio, he would doubtless get an important one in the coming days,” said a state BJP insider.
Observers say that the Centre’s move would help BJP reap electoral dividends in the elections both in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, two states which would go to polls early next year. “BJP has always been tagged with anti Dalit stigma. Such moves would help them shed such an image and emerge as a custodian of the weaker section’s interests,” one of the observers says.
But problems are awaiting the rank and file of the party. They are generally loyal to one of the three state stalwarts. “It might be a bit difficult for them to jump the ship and rally behind Tamta while highlighting the party top brass’s move to endear itself to the Dalit as a community. However, there are chances that the trio would not be fully left out in the cold. They might be accommodated in some important party posts in time to come. Maybe, one of them would be made the BJP’s national vice president,” said a BJP insider.
However, there is another snag involved in the development. The charge that is being levelled against the Congress as being blatantly partial to Kumaon at the expense of the other region Garhwal would haunt the BJP too with the leader of the Opposition who is also the state party chief and the Union minister hailing from Kumaon region . Dehradun-With the induction of Ajay Tamta into the Union council of ministers, Almora district has emerged as a power house of the state politics, nudging the leaders of other districts to nurse their wounds. A galaxy of persons from Almora district in Kumaon region is holding important positions in the state. The Chief Minister Harish Rawat and the Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal hail from the same district aside from the leader of the Opposition Ajay Bhatt and two Rajya Sabha MPs Pradeep Tamta and Mahendra Singh Mahra. Now, the latest entrant to the list is the just inducted Union minister of state Ajay Tamta.
Although the induction Ajay Tamta into the Union council of ministers as a minister of state has taken the political circles by surprise his ascendancy in the political hierarchy was expected. Observers say that his election to the lok Sabha from Almora constituency by defeating the Congress’s Dalit face and sitting MP Pradeep Tamta during general election-2014 had helped his stature shoot up a great deal. “There is no element of surprise in it if things are considered dispassionately. His ascendancy was rather awaited, given his status as a promising Dalit leader in the state’s saffron camp,” said an observer.
The move is being been seen as one to counteract CM Harish Rawat’s game plan to consolidate the Dalit vote bank behind Congress by foisting Pradip Tamta on a reluctant Congress as the Rajya Sabha member. He boasted the fact many a time before and after the election that Pradip Tamta would the first Dalit to get into the precincts of the Upper House of the Parliament since Uttarakhand came into being in 2000. There was little option left to the BJP but to counterbalance the crafty move of Harish Rawat, give the fact that the Dalit community enjoys a sizeable part of the state’s electorate.
Though many in the saffron camp might have been annoyed with the three satraps-all former CMs- Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Maj Gen Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri and Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank -being dumped the massage is loud and clear-Ajay Tamta would be the first member of the Union government from Uttarakhand, a fact that the BJP can use up to the tilt to wean the community away from the Congress in the election a few months away . “This is part of the BJP’s strategy of Dalit empowerment and Dalit endearment. Though still bereft of a portfolio, he would doubtless get an important one in the coming days,” said a state BJP insider.
Observers say that the Centre’s move would help BJP reap electoral dividends in the elections both in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, two states which would go to polls early next year. “BJP has always been tagged with anti Dalit stigma. Such moves would help them shed such an image and emerge as a custodian of the weaker section’s interests,” one of the observers says.
But problems are awaiting the rank and file of the party. They are generally loyal to one of the three state stalwarts. “It might be a bit difficult for them to jump the ship and rally behind Tamta while highlighting the party top brass’s move to endear itself to the Dalit as a community. However, there are chances that the trio would not be fully left out in the cold. They might be accommodated in some important party posts in time to come. Maybe, one of them would be made the BJP’s national vice president,” said a BJP insider.
However, there is another snag involved in the development. The charge that is being levelled against the Congress as being blatantly partial to Kumaon at the expense of the other region Garhwal would haunt the BJP too with the leader of the Opposition who is also the state party chief and the Union minister hailing from Kumaon region .