In a first such effort of its kind in recent times to facilitate a direct question and answer session between the general public and representatives of political parties, the Chetna Andolan has planned to hold one such programme in the provisional state capital on February 7.
In addition to the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party, the programme organisers intend to have prominent representatives of other political parties active in Uttarakhand on the same platform in order to answer the queries raised by the common public who will be voting in the Vidhan Sabha election 2017.
According to information provided by the organisers of the programme titled “Sawal Humara, Jawab Tumhara” (Our question, your answer), as on Sunday, the representatives of three parties had confirmed that they would be there to participate in the question-answer programme.
According to the coordinator of the Chetna Andolan, Trepan Singh Chauhan, so far three parties had authorised their representatives to answer public queries at the planned event. The authorised representatives named by parties for the programme include the Pradesh Congress Committee vice president Jot Singh Bisht to represent the Congress party, Sunil Dhyani to represent the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and Bach Ram Kanswal to represent the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
It remains to be seen who is authorised by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India to represent their respective parties in this programme, added Chauhan. The programme organisers state that their intention in holding the event is to facilitate an opportunity for the general public to question and interact on the subject of their development and future face to face with the political leaders.
It is generally seen that in elaborately organised programmes by some media groups, the political leaders are accompanied by their supporters who constitute bulk of the crowd who raise questions generally in favour of the party they support and against the party they oppose. The event planned by Chetna Andolan is not expected to be an event comprising politicians being questioned by supporters of rival politicians but an event in which the common man questions politicians on issues of public interest, add the organisers of the event.