New Uttarakhand chief minister has many challenges to face

Dehradun: Trivendra Singh Rawat who assumed power in the hill state of Uttarakhand on Saturday has to face many challenges in months to come. He has maintained a caste balance by offering four berths to Brahmins who are numerically stronger and made some other goods moves but all this may not be enough to make his going easy.

Trouble may be created by those who had defected on the eve of recent elections and those who have got elected for the first time and hoped to get berth.

As many as nine Congress men who were nursing a grudge against the party had defected to the BJP before the polls. Four of them have been accommodated in the council of ministers. The rest have been left out. If they are not accommodated somewhere else they may create roadblocks for him.

The four recent entrants to the party include Harish Singh Rawat who was the leader of the group of Congress defectors .

The state can have an eleven-member council headed by chief minister but only ten members were sworn-in on Saturday . This can keep the other defectors and other hopeful quiet at least for sometime.

To his credit, however, it must be said that he has cared for the most neglected group– Tribal– and provided ministerial berths to two tribals– Rekha Arya and Yashpal Arya.

As he is himself a Thakur and appointment of a large number of Thakurs might have created heart-burns among others only three members of this caste have found place in the council.

Appointment of a Thakur as chief minister is not something new. In fact, only twice a Brahmin has become the political head of the state so far. Nityanand Swami was the first Brahmin chief minister , followed by N. D Tewari. Swami took up the reins in 2001 a year after the formation of this new stater carved out of the large state of Uttar Pradesh.

Infrastructure development is another challenge he faces. The state is power deficient, although it has rivers criss-crossing it which could be used for hydro-electricity generation. Road links have to be provided in several areas. Some of the roads which have been already constructed are in a bad shape. Attention has to be paid to them too.

Expectation of people has gone very high because because of promises made during the electioneering and changes in the political scenario. The BJP has ended five-year Congress rule headed by another Rawat ( Harish) which had not received much applause. Clearly, he has a tough time ahead.