Allegations of ‘toppling’ of Dhami government by Gupta brother of South Africa fame with an amount of Rs. 500 crore create a stir in Uttarakhand BJP  

Allegations of ‘toppling’ of Dhami government by Gupta brother of South Africa fame with an amount of Rs. 500 crore create a stir in Uttarakhand BJP

S.M.A.KAZMI

Dehradun, Aug 29

Allegation levelled by an independent Uttarakhand legislator on the floor of the house during the recently concluded state assembly session at Gairsain in Chamoli district, regarding an alleged conspiracy by the Gupta brothers of South Africa fame to spend Rs.500 crore to topple the state BJP government led by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has created a stir in the ruling BJP. Interestingly, one of the Gupta brother along with his brother-in law are in Dehradun jail in connection with abetment to murder of their business partner.

In a surprise reveleation, Umesh.J. Kumar, an independent legislator from Khanpur in Haridwar district, who himself has a controversial past, on the floor of the house on August 22,2024 charged that an attempt was made to topple the state BJP government by Gupta brothers  who allegedly were willing to spent Rs.500 crore for the ‘Operation Topple’. He asked the state government and the Chief Minister to probe the matter. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami when asked said that the matter would be probed.

The allegations created a storm particularly in the ruling BJP since Umesh Kumar, a journalist turned politician is considered close to Chief Minister Dhami and former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari camp in BJP. Although, the wild allegations invited opposition Congress reaction which demanded a probe into the matter but left several leaders within the ruling BJP fuming. While, the Congress legislators failed to capitalise on the allegations in the House to corner the ruling party, later Congress spokesperson Garima Dasauni sought a through probe into the charges.

Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister and Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank reacting strongly at press conference few days ago dared Umesh.J. Kumar to come out with concrete evidence to back his allegations. He also asked the state BJP government to probe the issue in a time bound manner. Nishank said that the constitutional institutions like state assembly should not be used as a platform for unfounded and wild allegations and the dignity of such bodies should be maintained. He also requested the Speaker to give her ruling on the propriety of raising such allegations on the floor of the house.

Another former Chief Minister and Haridwar Lok Sabha MP expressing concern at the allegations said that thse charges point a question mark over 70 legislators of the state. ” The speaker should have asked the legislator making these charges to give evidence and ordered an inquiry. Why the legislators are silent,” he asked at a press conference at Mussoorie on Thursday

Senior BJP leader Ravinder Jugran raising doubts about of the credentials of legislator Umesh.J. Kumar said that the allegations about toppling the state BJP government are irresponsible and laughable since the person levelling the charges is himself known as a ‘stingmaster’. He said that wild charges of toppling the majority BJP state government point towards involvement of ruling BJP legislators.  Raghunath Singh Negi, a former vice-chairman of Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam(GMVN) and chief of Jan Sanghrash Morcha sought a thorough probe and asked that how tainted Gupta brothers who are in jail from past two months could plan the alleged conspiracy.

Interestingly, the allegations have more to do with internal Uttarakhand BJP politics than anything else. There had been talk of realignment of forces in the state ruling party after the election of former Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and Anil Baluni, national media incharge of BJP as Lok Sabha members from Haridwar and Pauri Garhwal respectively. There had been rumors of lobbying against the Chief Ministers as state BJP leaders including ministers made a beeline to meet central ministers including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Moreover, the fact that both Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Trivendra Singh Rawat while being  Chief Ministers of Uttarakhand during their tenures had running feud with Umesh. J.Kumar. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had him externed from the state. Similarly, Umesh.J.Kumar recorded the famous sting of former Chief Minister Harish Rawat during the political upheaval of 2016 following switch over of ten Congress legislators, with a bid to topple his government.

The allegations by the independent legislator if found true also raises issues about the conduct of the BJP legislators who were willing to participate in the toppling conspiracy by Gupta brothers. More interestingly, Gupta brothers are supposed to be close to BJP leaders and got facilities including security during Trivendra Singh Rawat regime. Earlier, even Harish Rawat Congress government had sanctioned them security in 2016. On the other hand, Umesh. J. Kumar on his social media had said that he has all the proofs of charged levelled by him and would divulge them before probe agencies.

It seems that issue which must have been raised with the knowledge of the Chief Minister Dhami has caused much embarrassment to the ruling BJP and widened fissures within.