The contest in the Chakrata Assembly constituency reserved for Scheduled Tribe in Dehradun district is expected to be an exciting one this time despite the seat being deemed long as a redoubt of the State home Minister and Congress veteran Pritam Singh, who has been elected thrice after the State was formed in 2000. BJP on its part has fielded a formidable candidate in the person of Madhu Chauhan who was the Dehradun district panchayat chief aside from being the wife of the State BJP’s chief spokesperson Munna Singh Chauhan.
Munna Singh lost the election the last time to Pritam by over 6,000 votes as his wife also faced defeat in the earlier election. But still, the Chauhans are strong contenders for the titan of the Congress. Munna defeated Pritam in two elections in undivided Uttar Pradesh. This aside, BSP has fielded a strong candidate in Kunwar Daulat Singh who along with his Dalit followers fought pitched battles against the upper caste people who were allegedly stopping them from entering some important temples in the region. However, known as Jaunsar Bawar, the region is dominated by the Jaunsar tribe, though the number of Dalit community people is not negligible.
Cradled in the scenic mountains, the constituency having 99,129 voters- 54198 males and 44929 females- would decide the fate of the two principal contenders.
Chakrata SDM Pratyush Kumar said that only two candidates have filed nominations so far. Aside from Pritam Singh of Congress who submitted his papers on Monday, BSP nomineeKunwar Daulat Singh filed nomination on Tuesday. The BJP candidate is yet to file her nomination papers, the last day being January 27. There are 216 polling centres set up in the constituency for the February 15 election.
“The entry of the self-proclaimed Dalit poster boy in the region Kunwar Daulat Singh has added further interest to the contest. He led the Dalits a number of times to breach the alleged ban on their entry into certain temples spread over the region. True, BSP had its security deposits forfeited in the 2012 election, but this time, the presence of Kumar in the contest has lent it with added interest,” said an observer.
local residents are far from happy with the state of things prevailing in the region. Migration continuing steadily, the common people is demanding recruitment of adequate number of teachers in the schools and doctors in the health centres spread in the far -flung areas of the mountainous region.
Madhu Chauhan alleged that the sitting MlA Pritam Singh has done nothing for development of the area. “Despite being a cabinet minister for a number of years, his apathy for the development of his electors is strange,” she said while claiming that she on her part as the panchayat chief from 2008-2013 had taken initiative to recruit teachers in the ill-cared for schools. She further alleged that he indulged more in nepotism than in developing the region he was being elected from in successive elections. “Roads are deplorable. Drinking water and electricity are out of bounds for the remote villages. The people would give him a befitting reply in the upcoming election,” she said.
However, Pritam Singh’s clout is still a thing to reckon with despite growing resentment among a section of the electorate. Things dated long back since the time Pritam Singh’s father, late Gulab Singh used to be elected from the constituency with huge margins as a Congress candidate much before Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh.
In the 2012 elections, Pritam Singh defeated BJP’s Munna Singh Chauhan by 6,654 votes. Pritam Singh polled 33,187 votes while Munna was contended with 26,533 votes. In 2007 elections, Pritam Singh defeated his nearest rival Madhu Chauhan (Independent) by over 4,100 votes. In the first election of the state in 2002, Pritam faced Munna Singh who contested as Uttarakhand Janwadi Party candidate and defeated the latter. However, in earlier two elections in1991 and 1996 in undivided UP, Munna Singh humbled Pritam Singh.
Pritam Singh sounded confident that it would be his straight fourth victory in a row. “The Chakrata Assembly constituency has seen rapid development with a massive expenditure on the laying of infrastructure, including roads. The villages are being transformed apace thanks to the initiatives we have taken for them,” he said.