No end to wait for minister-rank posts, resentment brews in BJP U’khand unit
Resentment is once again brewing in the BJP’s Uttarakhand unit with several leaders warning that any delay by chief minister Trivendta Singh Rawat in distributing minister-level posts may mar party’s prospects in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls
Resentment is once again brewing in the BJP’s Uttarakhand unit with several leaders warning that any delay by chief minister Trivendta Singh Rawat in distributing minister-level posts may mar party’s prospects in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
This comes days after party’s central leadership indicated that no ministerial responsibilities will be disseminated in Uttarakhand till general elections. The message was clear: party doesn’t want resentment brewing among those who don’t get the “largesse”.
The leaders, however, are not ready to wait for that long.
“It’s been nearly one-and-a-half years since we won the assembly election with three-fourth majority. Any further delay (in rewarding leaders with minister rank posts) may leave our cadres demoralised and inactive, which will end up marring the party’s prospects in the Lok Sabha polls,” warned former state BJP president Bishen Singh Chuphal.
Senior BJP leader Pushkar Singh Kala agreed. “We win elections owing to the hard work put in by cadres…Leaving them unrewarded affects their morale. They would not be able to give their hundred per cent while campaigning for the party, which is bound to have a direct bearing on its electoral performance,” the former Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) pracharak said.
Kala said distributing minister-level posts among party workers would also lead to decentralisation of power thereby helping the BJP organisationally at the grassroots level. “Our party’s strategy aims at shoring up its mass base at the lowest Nyay Panchayat level. That means the party clearly aims at strengthening its mass base in areas falling in polling booths.”
According to him, chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has filled only four minister-level posts, so far. “Among those, the latest appointment pertains to a constitutional position,” he said, referring to Usha Negi, who has been appointed chairperson of the State Commission for Protection of Child rights.
A senior level office bearer of the BJP’s state unit said party cadres are already seething with resentment and “they won’t wholeheartedly participate in the election campaign for the urban local body polls, or, the Lok Sabha polls.”
Even party supporters “will prefer pressing the NOTA (none of the above) button on the EVM to casting vote in favour of our party candidates,” he added.
The senior BJP leader cited the “ruling party enjoying the brute majority” as the main reason for the high command not distributing minister-level posts among the rank and file. “Even the chief minister’s hands are tied because only the two top central leaders of our party decide about the affairs of the state unit,” he said referring to BJP national president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Be that as it may, the problem of plenty seems to be the reason dissuading the party brass from taking a call on the growing demand for minister-level posts. “We have 16 lakh workers associated with our party, which by all means is a huge number”, said state BJP vice president Jyoti Prasad Gairola. “If a handful of 50-60 party workers are given minister-level posts shall we not end up earning the ire of lakhs of our other workers?”
