Entry of money, mafia and muscle power a dangerous trend in Uttarakhand hillls  

Entry of money, mafia and muscle power a dangerous trend in Uttarakhand hillls

B.D. Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, Aug 19

The entry of money, mafia and muscle power and violence to abduct elected members in the recently concluded panchayat elections in Uttarakhand point towards a dangerous trend in the politics of otherwise peaceful state.

The Nainital High Court taking cognizance of the matter which went public has come down heavily on the Nainital district police chief who was primarily responsible for maintaining law and order and peaceful and fair conduct of the elections. The Congress party had gone to court against the violence.

The general public was horrified to watch abduction of five elected Congress men members by the armed men presumably deployed by the ruling party to influence votes and outcome of the Zila Panchayat elections.

‘Where was your police force? What were the history sheeters doing in the city? Are you deliberately protecting the criminals? Do you think we are blind?” a division bench of Chief Justice G Narendra and Justice Alok Mehra said, pulling up Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Prahlad Narayan Meena.  The court even advised the state government to transfer the SSP, though it did not give any final decision on the issue.  During the hearing, the Chief Justice slammed the SSP and said, “Nainital is not just a tourist town. There is also the High Court here.” The judges took the SSP to task for failure to curb elements who were openly brandishing weapons and even fired during their attempt to kidnap members.

The court asked the SSP and the District Magistrate to file their respective affidavits on the matter and the steps taken during this period. The court also refused to hear five of the members who were present in the court, showing displeasure over their conduct. The court said that these people are contradicting their own statements, so their opinion does not matter. These five members had said that they were not kidnapped but had gone as per their own will.

The concerned intellectuals and senior citizens are worried about future of election process in the hill state. “The incident of  alleged abduction of panchayat representatives in Nainital, firing at Betalghat are dangerous signs for the democracy in the state, “said P.C. Tiwari, a senior advocate and political activist in Almora.

Karan Mahra, president of Uttarakhand state Congress committee, has said that the spirit of Panchayat Raj, visioned by late Rajiv Gandhi is being foiled by present regime to make way for mafias and money power. “if not checked soon, this will destroy believe of common man in Panchayat raj form of democracy,” said Karan Mahra.

“The incidents of alleged abduction and firing in Nainital and Almora, with the intention to influence panchayat election mandate, are evidence of advent of money and muscle power into hill region,”said Indresh Maikhuri, a CPI (ML) leader in the state.

PC Tiwari, said that if the state is to get rid from this increasing money and muscle culture in hill state, the elections of Zila panchayat and Block Pramukhs, should be direct with voters electing their representatives. “Both the ruling party and opposition should be unanimous to initiate a constitutional amendment to get direct election of chiefs of Panchayat bodies like gram pradhans and Zila Panchayat chiefs, ” said Tiwari.

“This all started in 2003 panchayat elections in hill state, when armed goondas tried to influence Panchayat election in Laksar booth of Haridwar district, followed by similar incidents in Kiccha in 2008 and Bahadarabad in 2015, where armed men tried to force fake voting, but this mafia culture has now reached the hill districts, ” said PC Tiwari.

Not only money and muscle power has entered the hill state, but the elected women representatives are also manipulated by their husbands and family members making a mockery of female representation. “ It is a known fact that most of the decisions are taken by the husbands of the elected female members,” claimed Dinesh Pandey social worker in Champawat district.