While the political parties and their leaders have been at loggerheads over the question of who would take up the reins of the State next following the suspension of the politicians’ rule through the promulgation of the President’s Rule, the elected representatives of important local bodies—Municipal Corporation and Panchayat—see in the change a ray of hope that the public issues, left unaddressed by the previous Government due to political and other compulsions, would be addressed by the Governor, with the State now under the President’s Rule.
District panchayat chairperson Chaman Singh said he was looking up to the Governor for funds cleared for development projects. “We would meet the Governor KK Paul and would raise the public issues to be redressed which were pending for the last many months,” he said.
Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli said that he had recently met the Governor and raise issues like implementation of house tax, commercial tax and regularisation of slums, issues left un-addressed during previous Congress regime. “Governor Paul looks positive while the former CM Harish Rawat used to frown on these issues as BJP has been running the board,” he said.
Chaman Singh said he had faced queries from the villagers whether the President’s Rule meant the end of the local body regimes like the civic bodies and rural bodies. “I told them we are not affected in the least in case of such changes at the State level. local bodies receive funds under Finance Commission and the state plan,” he said. He, however, hastened to add that he was apprehensive of state panchayat raj act being kept under suspension under the Central Rule. “If it happens it would affect us. We are preparing to meet the Governor to have the confusion cleared,” he said, adding that President’s Rule being the maiden experience for the State, such confusions are cropping up.
Mayor Vinod Chamoli said that he had recently met the Governor and raise issues like implementation of house tax, commercial tax and regularisation of slums, sensitive issues kept in abeyance during the Congress regime due to political reasons. According to him, Governor Paul responded positively.
“We raised such things before the State government under Harish Rawat time and again. But they were reluctant to clear things. This is because BJP has been running the civic board. Such political parochialism stands against the norms of participatory democracy. We are sure that things would change for the better now, given the Governor’s positive and development-minded mindset,” he said.