Lucknow ,July 17 : Vinod Chamoli, Ex. Mayor Dehradun and present BJP MLA of Dharampur, Uttarakhand talks to Prabhat Ranjan Deen.
Question: Why is the BJP leadership doing so many political experiments in Uttarakhand? Why is this not happening in the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh?
Answer: The state of Uttarakhand has been formed after a long struggle in which many people were martyred, many people were jailed and faced strict laws like the National Security Act. Countless people had to face severe harassment. The struggle of Uttarakhand has been the result of great aspirations and expectations of the people. But after the formation of the state, the political parties prioritized their own political benefits. They repeatedly neglected the expectations of the people, and to end the people’s discontent, chief ministers were very frequently changed, but the dissatisfaction of the masses remained as it is. I believe that as long as political parties do not provide leadership according to public sentiments keeping in view the struggle and sacrifices in the making of Uttarakhand and if only political interest prevails, the process of changing & experimenting on Chief Ministers will continue. The situation in Uttar Pradesh is different, internal conflicts there are less than that of Uttarakhand.
Question: How much will Pushkar Singh Dhami, the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, be proved beneficial for the BJP, when the Assembly elections are on the head?
Answer: The young face can appeal to the people, it may be the vision of the party. Pushkar Singh Dhami is a young face, as well as a member of the Rajput community. Those in the party who lobbied Dhami were probably successful in convincing the party leadership that the Rajput Chief Minister was indispensable. It would also have been argued that since Pushkar Singh Dhami is from Kumaon and Harish Rawat is a strong Congress face from Kumaon, the young face will be able to attract voters.
Question: You are known to be a committed BJP leader, yet why doesn’t the BJP high command give you important responsibility in the Government? Why were the sentiments of the mountain people ignored?
Answer: Yes, it is true that I had an active role in the Uttarakhand movement, I also went to jail and faced NSA. My political utility is known to everyone. I was the Mayor of Dehradun for 10 long years, before that I was the Chairman of the board. Then I reached the Assembly after winning the election from a challenging Assembly seat of Dharampur. Because of my principles, I cannot show off my usefulness and ability before the party leadership, I cannot endorse myself. It is for the party leadership to assess my potential & ability. Yes, it is definitely a matter of misfortune for me that the battle we fought over the concept of hill state, today because of political selfishness, the state is cramped in Pahad vs Terai, Gadhwal vs Kumaon, Thakur vs Pandit. It has been caught-up in too many conflicts. How it will be dealt with, how it will be explained to the new generations and how the mountain’s civilization, culture and environment will be protected, it is going to be a tremendous challenge in the coming times. The identity and concept of the hill state is getting tarnished by adding more people from the plains to Uttarakhand day by day. The people of the hills must get their hills back… ‘Pahadiyon ko unka pahaad wapas chahiye’.
Question: Aam Aadmi Party is increasing its activity in Uttarakhand. Will it affect the political equations of Uttarakhand?
Answer: I don’t think that the Aam Aadmi Party has any influence in Uttarakhand. It can create some problems for the Congress party only.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
