Friday, 23 July 2021 | Gajendra Singh Negi | Dehradun
Smart (?) City
As monsoon clouds are unleashing their full fury in the Himalayan state a huge hue and cry is being raised from various quarters as many areas of provisional state capital Dehradun are getting inundated with water. Marooned in water many complained about the degradation the city has gone through and they blame the authorities for failing miserably in putting in place an effective drainage system despite spending crores of rupees and rueing that corrupt system and myopic planners have converted once clean, green and beautiful Doon into an urban mess. To add to their miseries an NGO came up with a startling revelation that water being supplied in many parts of the city is not fit for drinking. The suffering denizens of Doon should stop complaining and find solace in the fact that Dehradun is the recipient of the best smart city in the country award for the year 2020 and was also honoured for providing clean drinking water to its residents.
AAP’s CM
It appears that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is playing a game of wits with Colonel (retd) Ajay Kothiyal. The decorated soldier who gained popularity in Uttarakhand for his services in Kedarnath reconstruction works and the success he achieved in training youngsters for the armed forces of the country made a grand entry in the AAP and everyone believed that the party would make him its chief ministerial face. However AAP which is desperately trying to create a political niche for itself in the state has not yet officially declared the former colonel as its CM candidate. To continue the guessing game further, the Delhi CM in his visit to the Dehradun skirted questions on the issue and said that the name would be declared at an appropriate time while his deputy Manish Sisodia during his Roorkee stopover virtually declared Kothiyal as the party’s face in the state. It is learnt that the party is hoping to attract some more political migrants in its fold before it lets the cat out of the bag and hence is playing a game of deception with Kothiyal who still is a greenhorn in politics.
Hercules Harish
The skills exhibited by Harish Rawat in dousing the fire that had threatened to scald the grand old party in the state of Punjab has exalted his status within the Congress party. His deft handling of the situation is said to have prevented a split in the party in the state where it is in power and resulted in elevation of Navjot Singh Siddhu on the post of PCC president despite stiff resistance from CM Amarinder Singh. After passing the Punjab test with flying colours the Congress stalwart seems to have his way in his home state too as the Congress high command has decided to make him the head of the crucial campaign committee in Uttarakhand. In a clear indication that he is the real boss of the party in Himalayan state, the Congress party is set to remove his bête noire Pritam Singh from the coveted post of PCC president and anoint Ganesh Godiyal – a protégé of Harish Rawat- in his place.
