The alleged shooting by Congress MlA and Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation chairman Pranav Singh ‘Champion’ has exposed the failure of the Government and police to confront facts and act towards maintaining the law in the State capital with contradictory statements being made by its leaders and Ministers.
While Singh has told media persons that he did not shoot and that injuries to Congress leader Vivekanand Khanduri might have been inflicted by crackers, the State Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Indira Hridayesh tried to downplay the incident stating that the MlA just acted like some do during marriage parties.
On top of this, Congress member from Haridwar, Ravinder Saini who had narrated the incident to the media, has submitted an affidavit to the police stating that he was not aware of any such incident taking place. AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi is reported to have sought a report from CM Vijay Bahuguna on the incident during their meet in Delhi on Wednesday.
The incident has dented the image of the Congress in Uttarakhand at a time when Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna is struggling in the face of allegations of inefficiency in disaster related works. Dehradun SSP Kewal Khurana said that in his police statement, the injured Khanduri stated that he had lost consciousness on hearing a bang and learnt of his own injuries after regaining consciousness. Saini has submitted an affidavit to the police
stating that he was unaware of and had not witnessed any shooting at cabinet Minister Harak Singh Rawat's residence. The CM has stated that no one is above the law and that the police will act as required by law. However, questions are liable to be raised at the manner in which those allegedly involved or affected in the incident have responded. On the night of the incident, Saini's statement about Singh shooting from his gun and injuring him and Khanduri was telecast on various news channels and a couple of days later, he submitted an affidavit contradicting his earlier statement.
While Singh denied having fired a single round and alleged that it was a conspiracy to malign him, Hridayesh first acknowledged Singh's role in statements to the media on Wednesday and on Thursday said that she knew nothing about the incident.
Political observers point out that had not the disaster issue been the main subject of discussion, the government would have found it harder to tackle this incident. It now remains to be seen as to how the CM handles this incident at a time when the Opposition and even civil society is seeking Singh's dismissal from his post, removal from the party and arrest.