The State Government is all set to embark on the long-awaited move to make appointments to several key posts in the Government establishments.
It is learnt that the Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and the State BJP chief Ajay Bhatt were asked during their meetings with the senior party leaders in New Delhi on Wednesday to make appointments on various positions in the Government establishments and to accommodate the party leaders in them. CM and Bhatt met the party’s national Vice-President and party-in–charge of Uttarakhand Shyam Jaju and the party’s national general secretary (organisation) Shiv Prakash in New Delhi and discussed the political situation in the State. On his return to the State capital, Bhatt said that discussions on the distribution of positions were held in Delhi. He, further, said that in the first phase, appointments in different commissions would be made.
It is learnt that the party would accommodate its leaders, including some MlAs, in the first phase. The names of State party Vice-President Jyoti Prasad Gairola, State general secretary Naresh Bansal, Prakash Suman Dhyani, Gajraj Bisht, Umesh Agarwal, Virendra Singh Bisht, Kusum Kandwal Rajkumari are making rounds for such appointments. Some MlAs like Khajan Das, Bishan Singh Chufal and Bansi Dhar Bhagat could also be accommodated in the first list.
Notably, the party leaders were consistently demanding over the past one year and a half that the State Government should accommodate some of them in different Government establishments and commissions. The State Government and the state party brass kept sitting on it in apprehension that the same would open the Pandora’s box, further accentuating the intra-party squabbles. Their fears are not unfounded as the number of such contenders is much more than the number of the available posts. Some BJP insiders say that distribution of responsibilities could actually end up further aggravating the internal dissension in the party. “The state party leaders kept things hang fire till the elections to local urban bodies are completed. However, things are closed for them now as the high command has intervened in favour of prompt appointments,” said a party insider.