Gairsain gimmicks
The politicians of Uttarakhand have made Gairsain, the sleepy settlement located at heart of the Himalayan state, as an arena for political one-upmanship. With the crucial assembly elections less than one and half years away the Gairsain pot has started to simmer again. During the budget session of Uttarakhand assembly held in the imposing assembly building at picture perfect Bharadisain in March this year; CM Trivendra Singh Rawat took the wind out of the sails of the opposition with his now historic announcement to make Gairsain as summer capital of the state. However no groundwork from the state administration to buttress the CM’s announcement provided an opportunity to a seasoned politician like Harish Rawat to attack TSR. The former CM along with his supporters held a meeting days ahead of Independence Day in Gairsain. Here a parody in local dialect enacted by Rawat and his foot soldiers in which they asked TSR whereabouts of the summer capital and questioned his government perfectly showcased the rhetoric the politicians of the state have perfected on Gairsain. To counter Harish Rawat’s barbs, TSR retorted by unfurling the national flag at assembly building in Bharadisain on Independence Day and purchasing a plot in Gairsain.
Fatigue Factor
The devil may care attitude of the general public in recent weeks towards the pandemic perpetuated by the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) has made the dreaded virus to make deep inroads into the Himalayan state. Though the authorities are consistent in their denial for the contagion entering into the frightful community spread stage all indications and the views of the experts tell a different story. Unfortunately this phenomenon of fatigue has also set up among those who are entrusted with the task of implementing physical distancing norms and regulations for containment of the Covd-19. The health care workers who are at forefront of the ongoing and protracted battle against the virus too are showing signs of exhaustion. The information trickling in from the hospitals where patients of the disease are recuperating indicate increasing apathy towards the sick and lack of a monitoring system. In such a scenario things are hurtling towards becoming worse from bad in the Himalayan state. The government, social and political outfits and prominent personalities should come forward to fight this fatal fatigue failing which the contagion is set to assume gargantuan proportions.
Scandal
The Uttarakhand unit of the BJP was left red faced recently when a young woman accused the MLA from Dwarahat assembly constituency, Mahesh Negi of rape.
The woman probably taking heart from a strikingly similar episode involving a former CM demanded that the DNA test of the MLA who was a former sportsperson should be conducted for confirming her claim that her daughter is fathered by Negi. Not surprisingly the Dehradun police found more substance in the story of wife of MLA who accused the woman of trying to blackmail the family and registered a case. With the police starting the investigation, it remains to be seen the direction the interesting case which has grabbed eyeballs takes now. However the high profile case apart from giving a juicy subject to the gossip lovers has handed over a tool to the opposition Congress to browbeat the saffron party which incidentally boasts much about morality in public life.