Uttarakhand govt faces heat from all sides

When Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna was recently quizzed by the media on the buzz about a change of guard in the state, he retorted, the post was not vacant, suggesting he would continue.

But when it comes to the functioning of the government in the Vidhan Sabha, Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal has virtually overshadowed the chief minister in terms of decision-making. The Speaker not only issued four-page orders to the government on how to deal with the devastation caused by the mid-June deluge, but also accepted a privilege motion against it on its alleged failure to implement these. In a step further, the Speaker also ordered a series of inquiries into the alleged scandals, much to the embarrassment of the government.

Taking the advantage of the rivalry between Bahuguna and Kunjwal, the opposition is leaving no chance to put the government on the mat on issues ranging from the disaster management to illegal mining. The chief minister is also not finding support from some of the ruling Congress legislators, who have protested against him inside the House.

The embarrassing moments for the government began on Monday when the two-day session began to pass the new Lok Ayukta Bill. As the House assembled, the Speaker showed no leniency in ordering inquiries into the alleged scandals and irregularities in mining, forest and other departments. In most of the cases, the issues were raked up by the ruling Congress legislators like Navprabhat and Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion.

But on Tuesday, soon after the question hour session, the Speaker gave permission to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Madan Kaushik to take up privilege motions against the government. During the next 90 minutes, the BJP legislators led by the Leader of the Opposition Ajay Bhatt turned the heat on the government by pointing out that the government had "completely failed" to implement the directions issued by the Speaker on disaster management in the last session. "By not implement your (Speaker's) orders, the government has committed contempt of the House and should get a rigorous punishment," Bhatt said. Later, the Speaker referred the motion against the government to the House privilege committee.

Following this, Nishank took up the privilege motion against the government, claiming it had misled the House by concealing facts about the presidential assent to the Lok Ayukta Bill. He too demanded rigorous punishment to the government.

The Speaker again referred this motion to the House committee.