The people living in Joshimath and surrounding area are evidently miffed at elected representatives who have done little regarding the demand raised by the public for declaring this region in Chamoli district a backward area. The Badrinath MlA and recently inducted cabinet Minister Rajendra Singh Bhandari had to face opposition from the locals and disagreement among the local Congress party workers on this issue when he visited Joshimath after his induction in to the State Cabinet.
The demand for declaring the Joshinmath area a backward area has been stressed upon by members of the public for quite some time now. However, with successive State Governments having failed to fulfill the public demand, residents of this region are not happy with elected representatives. In the past, the Chief Minister Harish Rawat too had to face protest on the issue from the local residents during a visit to the area.
On Sunday, the Badrinath MlA and recently inducted Cabinet Minister Rajendra Bhandari came face to face with the public sentiment and political differences which are centered on the demand for declaring Joshimath a backward area. Bhandari was in Joshimath to participate in a public meet on Sunday.
During the public meet, a local Congress party worker came up to the Minister to submit a memorandum regarding the demand for declaring this region backward. This resulted in a disagreement among the party workers who took up confrontational stance against each other while arguing on aspects of the demand. The Minister had to intervene to resolve the altercation after which the head of the Pichda Sangharsh Samiti Joshimath, Ramesh Chandra Sati submitted a memorandum on the demand to the local MlA and Cabinet Minister.
It is pertinent to mention here that the demand for declaring Joshimath a backward area has been raised repeatedly in the public sphere. Earlier, while attending a programme organised in the Urgam area of Chamoli district on the occasion of Gaura Devi environment day, Bhandari had himself talked about declaration of the area as a backward area.
However, months after the occasion, the State authorities have not issued any Government order regarding the categorisation being sought by the public. Miffed at the inaction of the State authorities, some of the people including Congress party workers expressed their disappointment on the issue and ended up having an altercation at the venue of the public meet.
local Congress party worker Ramesh Chandra Sati said that if the Joshimath area is not declared a backward area by the State Government soon, the people living in the area will undertake a movement in support of their long standing demand.