Whether it is a part of a well-thought-out political strategy or otherwise, the absence of the first rung leaders of the State BJP from the scene when the people are agitated over crimes and other unfortunate incidents occurring at regular intervals seems to have strengthened the hands of the Harish Rawat Government.
Mention worthy, Uttarakhand has witnessed a series of untoward incidents recently ranging from the self- immolation by a student in Ramnagar to the rape-cum-murder of a girl in Haldwani to the bomb blast in Roorkee on Saturday.
The people say that the BJP’s top brass keeps maintaining a conspicuous, studied distance from the scenes. This is bound to have eyebrows raised, said a local from Haldwani.
This aside, the stony silence the saffron satraps keep exercising over the emotive social issues sounds queer, they said.
Factionalism within the State BJP is not a new thing. However, things seemed to have worsened with two green horns from Uttarakhand — Anil Baluni and Trivendra Singh Rawat — being given importance in the party’s organisational set-up at the expense of the battle-hardened old horses.
There are reasons to believe that this development has sent the State satraps sulking.
Uttarakhand may not figure prominently in the BJP’s national-level scheme of things, but with the Assembly election in the State slated in 2017, the Central leadership has not much room to maneuver things this or that way.
However, in contrast, a few second-rung BJP leaders like the leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Ajay Bhatt are in the forefront, raising harangues on issues concerning the larger public interests. Bhatt, during his Kumaon visit here on Monday launched a scathing attack on the Congress Government for its failure on ‘all fronts’.
Whether it is the question of maintaining law and order or improving the basic services, the Congress Government has bungled miserably, alleged Bhatt.
Yet, the lack of cohesiveness is coming in the way of the saffron impact being effectively felt in the State’s political realm. This is what is giving the beleaguered State Government some kind of breathing space, the observers opined.