For the first time in five years, the former CM fulfilled the responsibility of the opposition.
The Sunday Mail
Dehradun. Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat launched a major attack on the Pushkar Singh Dhami government on Tuesday. He said that the state is being run by a handicapped government. Dhami has been in office for more than five years, yet he is unable to expand his cabinet. Rawat questioned why Chief Minister Dhami is unable to expand his cabinet. For the past four years, a half-hearted government has been in operation, thus making it a handicapped government. Speaking to reporters in Rudraprayag, former CM Rawat questioned the functioning of the Dhami government, but avoided directly attacking Chief Minister Dhami.
Rawat highlighted the failures of the Dhami government, raising issues such as disaster management, law and order, the ongoing protests in the hills, and other fundamental problems. Dhami is the first BJP Chief Minister to complete five consecutive terms. But the biggest question is why the high command is not allowing Dhami to expand and reshuffle his cabinet. Despite losing the election, Dhami was sworn in as Chief Minister for a second time in 2022. Uttarakhand can have 12 ministers, including the Chief Minister. At that time, nine MLAs, including the Chief Minister, were sworn in, with three positions vacant. However, as the term progressed, one minister passed away, and another had to resign due to a controversial statement. Five positions became vacant in the Dhami cabinet. Of the six ministers currently in office, Satpal Maharaj, Subodh Uniyal, Saurabh Bahuguna, and Rekha Arya joined the BJP from the Congress. This means that only Ganesh Joshi and Dhan Singh Rawat, originally from the BJP, are ministers. It is said that the CM rarely gets along well with his ministers. For the past year, the functioning of the government has been affected due to speculation about cabinet reshuffle and expansion. For the past few months, both party leaders and the opposition have been raising questions about the government’s performance, accusing CM Dhami of numerous corruption allegations. Currently, protests against the state government have gripped most areas of the state. Discontent against CM Dhami and the government is at its peak in Uttarakhand. Former CM Rawat’s press conference focused primarily on corruption and the CM. The experienced Rawat responded to questions in a manner that appeared to attack the government rather than CM Dhami. In an election year, Congress may now appear aggressive. However, in the past five years, Congress failed to play the role of an aggressive opposition or launch any protests. Consequently, the Dhami government did not appear overly concerned about protests and discontent. Congress, however, had numerous issues to address, such as disaster management, deteriorating law and order, paper leaks, and the lack of basic amenities in the state, for which the public has taken to the streets to attack the government. End
