By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 19 Oct: Even as turncoats in Uttarakhand politics continue to make news, every move of the politicians in the state is being monitored very closely by the media as well as both the major political parties.
One particular meeting held today was enough to fuel another round of political speculation across the state. Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh today called on Cabinet Minister Harak Singh Rawat. Ostensibly, the issues discussed between the two leaders were the problems faced by the displaced people of Lohari village of Vikasnagar Block of Dehradun district.
Pritam Singh, too, confirmed the meeting and claimed that the government was neglecting the villagers of Lohari who had been displaced. Singh added that he had called on Power Minister Harak Singh to demand that the displaced villagers be given land in place of their land acquired by the government, at the earliest.
While there is nothing unusual about the Leader of the Opposition meeting a cabinet minister with certain demands but, at a time when the elections are barely 4 months away and when there have been defections from both the parties, political speculation s bound to happen.
What also sparked the speculation regarding today’s meeting was the presence of Raipur MLA Umesh Sharma ‘Kau’ and of Congress leader Brahmaswarup Brahmachari. It also gained strength in view of the fact that, just recently, ‘Kau’ had been spotted at Congress Headquarters and at Rahul Gandhi’s residence. At that time, the BJP leadership was watchful and managed to pull him back before he could even meet Rahul Gandhi. However, nothing is final in politics and, therefore, every move of those particularly on the radar of the Congress and those suspected by the BJP leadership does create more than a ripple.
