To take the wind out of the saffron sails after the switch of ten Congress MlAs to the BJP, the Harish Rawat Government is all set to carve out eight more districts across the State, adding to the present figure of 13. The new districts will be Didihaat, Ranikhet, Ramnagar, Kashipur, Kotdwar, Yamunotri, Roorkee and Rishikesh.
With the Assembly election approaching, the move is said to have political connotations. It has included regions in the new districts to be formed which are represented by four BJP MlAs. “The four saffron MlAs would be left in a unique position in case the State Government proceeds with the move. They can neither oppose nor support. In case they oppose they would be dubbed as anti-development. If they support the CM would use it up to the hilt to further his electoral prospects. It seems to have landed them between devil and the deep sea syndrome,” said a political analyst.
Interestingly, those four out of the eight districts to be carved out as per those privy to the development are Didihaat, Ranikhet, Kashipur and Rishikesh. All these regions have sitting BJP MlAs - Bishan Singh Chufal, State BJP president and leader of the Opposition Ajay Bhatt, Harbhajan Singh Cheema and Premchand Aggrawal.
The ruling party's latest political move has not spared the rebel MlAs either who recently switched to the BJP. The new districts to be formed would include Roorkee and Ramnagar where the sitting MlAs are Pradeep Batra and Amrita Rawat, the two newly-inducted BJP leaders who switched from the Congress. The remaining two constituencies are Kotdwar where the sitting MlA is Surendra Singh Negi from the Congress and Yamunotri which UKD MlA Preetam Singh Panwar is representing in the present Assembly.
"Things are unmistakable. The extremely crafty move using development as the veneer is a ruthless one to give BJP candidates a run for their money," said a State watcher, well-versed with the twists and turns of the State's political trajectory.
"Election drawing nearer, this is a well-timed move. It would definitely put the BJP on the back foot as the Opposition party can neither oppose it nor lend support. The saffron brigade might cite the fact that there is nothing new in it as the BJP regime with Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank at the helm in 2011 had conceived carving out four new districts. But the fact is that the then BJP Government did not act on the proposal. Harish Rawat is really unbeatable in the game of one-upmanship. He would jockey for public support armed with the move, saying that while Harish Rawat is for the development of the State his rivals are out to oust him from power. This is a smart move as things are likely to boil down to development vs petty politics of destabilization during the dusty phase of electioneering," said another observer.