Himalayan question: on the lack of environment in Uttarakhand campaign

In the run-up to February 14 uttarakhand assembly elections, Mandir and development are among the issues raised by the politicians. Former Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat’s effort to bring four temples of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri as well as other temples under one board ended with the withdrawal of the 2019 Act in November 2021 after continued protests by priests. Gone. The new Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, who replaced Tirath Singh Rawat in July 2021, who had replaced Mr. Trivendra Singh Rawat in March of the same year, conducted the review. Mr Dhami said that the decision to constitute the board may have been taken with good intentions, but it was withdrawn after discussions within the government. Going to the polls, everyone from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to local BJP leaders have described the redevelopment of Kedarnath as one of the achievements of the “double engine” government at the Center and in Uttarakhand. In December, Mr Modi inaugurated the Lakhwar Multipurpose Project and road projects worth Rs 8,700 crore. With the support of major infrastructure projects by the government, Mr Modi termed it as the Decade of Uttarakhand. While environmentalists have raised concerns over rules being broken for large infrastructure projects, major parties have yet to raise environmental concerns.

Issues of national security and welfare of ex-servicemen also dominate the campaign. With a sizable population of retired soldiers, the politics of Uttarakhand has always seen some grandeur on the issues that fascinate them. The brother of the late Chief of Defense Staff, General Bipin Rawat, Col (Retd) Vijay Rawat, joined the BJP this week. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has projected another retired colonel Ajay Kothiyal as its chief ministerial candidate and promised government jobs to all ex-service members in the state. Mr Dhami has spoken of him as “a soldier’s son” and said that the BJP respects forces alone. The BJP is trying to fight the anti-incumbency wave and the perception that it is a divided house, which has replaced two chief ministers within months in 2021. The Congress is hoping to regain power after losing in 2017. The tussle over the ticket and the split within the party has come to the fore, with former chief minister Harish Rawat being one of the contenders for the leadership position. With the promise of development, the AAP has joined the race to copy the Delhi model and end the “power-sharing” between the BJP and the Congress. There is a flurry of promises ranging from free water and electricity to better schools. What is lacking is an informed debate on a development model that is suitable for the ecologically fragile location of Uttarakhand.