A climbdown

Faced with protests over the inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar district in the proposed Uttaranchal State, the BJP-led Government appears to be having second thoughts on the proposal.

VENKITESH RAMAKRISHNAN

RAJYA SABHA member and former Union Minister Balwant Singh Ramoowalia looked pleased as members of Parliament belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party huddled together on July 17 to discuss the proposed legislation to create the new States of Uttaranchal, Vananchal and Chhatisgarh. Standing outside the main gate of Parliament House, the Sikh leader, who represents Uttar Pradesh in the Upper House, told this correspondent that he was sure that the "roll-back Government" (a reference to the BJP-led Government's reversal of several budgetary proposals) "is getting set to modify one more of its exalted announcements" (on the creation of new States). The meeting, he added, would create the atmosphere for the deferment of the introduction of the bill on the formation of the new States.

Ramoowalia's delight at the prospect of such a deferment was understandable. He has been campaigning against the inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar district in the proposed Uttaranchal State. As such, any decision by the BJP-led Government that would result in a delay in the creation of the State was, in his opinion, welcome, for it would give the Udham Singh Nagar Raksha Samiti (USNRS), which is spearheading the agitation, time to mount pressure on the Government to meet its demand.

V. SUDERSHAN
B.S. Ramoowalia, former Union Minister, who is in the forefront of the agitation against the inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar district in the proposed Uttaranchal State.

In the end, Ramoowalia's prediction in respect of the BJP MPs' meeting was proved right. The MPs were briefed on the difficulties in introducing the bill in the Budget session. The agitation in Udham Singh Nagar and the Uttarakhand hills as well as "the opposition of the BJP's alliance partners such as the Akali Dal (see box) to the formation of the State as envisaged" were among the reasons cited. It was also pointed out that the Government was still "studying the economic viability of the proposed States" as well as the "geographical and cultural affinity" among the various regions that would form the new States.

Significantly, the language used at the meeting was reminiscent of the arguments of the USNRS in support of its demand: the USNRS said that the Terai belt, which included Udham Singh Nagar, was not culturally and geographically compatible with the hill districts. Clearly, the BJP was resorting to prevarication.

R.V. MOORTHY
Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh's visit to New Delhi on July 18 gave further indications of this. After meeting Union Home Minister L.K. Advani, Kalyan Singh told journalists that his Government would accept whatever decision the Centre would take in respect of Udham Singh Nagar. This stance implied a clear shift from his position of only a week earlier, when he had asserted in Lucknow that Udham Singh Nagar would be part of the proposed new State.

Other developments in Lucknow, Udham Singh Nagar and the hill districts also pointed to a change in the BJP's plans in respect of Uttaranchal. The most significant of these were the statements of two BJP leaders from the hill districts, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal and K.C. Singh Baba. These leaders made their case for a "greater Uttaranchal" that would include parts of districts in the plains, such as Bareilly, Rampur and Hardwar. Pokhriyal is a member of the Kalyan Singh Ministry and Baba is an MLA.

SUBIR ROY
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh.

According to BJP sources, Ila Pant, the BJP MP from Nainital, had appealed at party meetings for the inclusion of Baheri, the Assembly constituency in Bareilly district that is part of the Nainital Lok Sabha constituency, in the new State.

These suggestions acquire significance in the context of the rethink at the Centre; within the USNRS, there are some who would not mind the inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar in the new State if more regions from the plains are also included. According to a section of the USNRS, the biggest problem with regard to the proposed State is not geographic and cultural incompatibility but the advantage that the hill people would have in the new State's Assembly owing to demographic reasons.

If the new Assembly is formed as currently envisaged, more than two-thirds of the seats will fall in the hill areas. USNRS executive committee member Yashwant Kumar Mishra told Frontline: "That would give the hill people the kind of political weightage with which they can run us down." The new suggestions from the BJP leaders from the hill areas are evidently aimed at offsetting this perceived imbalance in the proposed power structure. If more regions from the plains are included in the new State, the number of Assembly seats from the plains would also increase.

The manner in which the USNRS' "direct action" phase cooled off after a brisk beginning on July 9 may indicate behind-the-scenes efforts to work out a new proposal on the lines suggested by Pokhriyal and Baba. The USNRS' agitation programme started with a two-day bandh that brought to a halt almost all activity in the district, including court proceedings. The USNRS had announced that the direct action programme would continue for an indefinite period beyond July 12 if its demand for the exclusion of Udham Singh Nagar district from the new State was not accepted.

However, even though neither the Centre nor the State Government has responded positively to the USNRS' demand, the organisation has not intensified its agitation. Its leaders are reported to be holding discussions in Lucknow with BJP leaders and the State Government. The BJP seems to have accepted the suggestion to include in the new State more areas from the plains. BJP sources are, however, unable to say whether such a move will satisfy the hill people who have waged a prolonged struggle for the new State.

According to BJP leaders, the shift in the BJP stance was triggered by the realisation that Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav was seeking political mileage with his overt support to the USNRS agitation. "Mulayam Singh was gaining not only in Udham Singh Nagar district, but also in other parts of Uttar Pradesh," a senior BJP leader told Frontline. The reason, according to him, was the perception in the rest of Uttar Pradesh that including Udham Singh Nagar in the new State would be as good as taking prosperity out of Uttar Pradesh and from the hands of the plainspeople. The leader also added that the only way this trend could be removed was to assure the people of the plains that their interests would be protected in the new State.

Clearly, the BJP-led Government's announcement on the formation of new States is caught in the familiar web of political compulsions. How these compulsions will influence the issue is to be seen. But what is certain is that until a via media is found, the BJP leadership will strive ever so hard to explain the "difficulties" in introducing the bill on the formation of the new States in the near future.

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