There is no doubt that the BJP has a good margin of public support in its favour at the present, going by the results of the Lok Sabha, Assembly and Municipal polls. However, this should not become a reason for political complacency as misjudgment in dealing with even a single incident can create future difficulties. For someone like Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who can look forward to a long public career, it could prove a critical turnabout.
One such incident is the controversy that has exploded following the derogatory words used by State Finance Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal about people of the hills. He has apologised, but do the BJP and the CM consider it adequate? This is because the abuse was not directed at a single person but against an entire community – a Freudian slip that exposed his state of mind. Can such a person be expected to sincerely serve the very same people? Also, it is not the first time he has been involved in a controversy that displayed his arrogance towards the common folk.
Does the lack of decisive action in this regard display a weakness in CM Dhami’s hold over his government? It is not that the minister in question is the only person representing the community he belongs to, and he cannot be replaced. What other hold does he have over the government that he can remain untouched after such a major faux pas?
The hill people are quite rightly agitated over the insult directed at them and are planning to hold protests against the government. It has the potential to escalate into a major agitation if further mishandled by remaining insensitive to their sentiments. The government may be confident that it has enough support to weather the storm, but allowing the grievance to fester in the public mind cannot be good for the social environment in the state. The people of Uttarakhand require greater sophistication and culture from their representatives, as also sincerity in their actions. People have great hopes of their ‘young’ Chief Minister, but politics is a tough game and requires its practitioners to function beyond mere convenience. It may just be symbolic but action in this case is absolutely necessary.
