By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 23 Sep: For the first time ever perhaps in the twenty-two year history of Uttarakhand as a separate state, a bold decision on termination of irregular appointments made under the discretion of various speakers was taken today. Speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan as well as Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who took the initiative in urging the Speaker to get these appointments investigated, deserve kudos for this. However the bigger question is what about the irregular appointments made prior to the year 2016 and since the formation of the state in the year 2000? While the discretionary appointments made without due process by the then Speakers Premchand Aggarwal and his predecessor, Govind Singh Kunjwal have been terminated, what about action against Aggarwal or Kunjwal? Of course, more than the government, it is the parties, concerned i.e. BJP and Congress which ought to take action against these leaders. While Kunjwal continues to be senior Congress leader who had lost his 2022 Assembly election from Jageshwar, Premchand Aggarwal, the BJP leader, is now a cabinet minister who has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.
The question is whether Aggarwal will be made to resign or will, himself, resign on moral grounds now that the appointments made by him have been terminated. Not only this, Mukesh Singhal who had been given three out of turn promotions in a period of six months and appointed to the highest position in the Assembly Secretariat, also stands suspended now! As far as Kunjwal is concerned, he had appointed his own offspring in the Assembly Secretariat!
Political speculation has been rife over the past few days regarding a possible cabinet reshuffle in the Navratri period beginning 26 September. It remains to be seen if this really happens and some ministers who have courted controversies continuously are shown the door!
