CITY
Too many power centres becoming a bane for
state’s bureaucrats?
Kautilya Singh| TNN | Updated: Sep 8, 2017, 22:19 IST
DEHRADUN: The recent incident of
Dharampur MLA and Dehradun mayor Vinod Chamoli having a heated showdown with
Doon district magistrate SA Murugesan over the issue of closing of a liquor
shop in his area, has accentuated what many political watchers term as ‘the
belief that there are too many power centres emerging in the state government.’
“It is open knowledge that a few senior bureaucrats are calling the shots in
the present government, even though technically the top-most bureaucrat is the
chief secretary. With orders coming from multiple sources in the bureaucracy as
well as from cabinet ministers and even BJP leaders, this is bound to lead to
confusion among bureaucrats,” said political analyst Jay Singh Rawat.
He added that “the CM’s lack of experience along with the presence of political heavyweights in his cabinet who are not averse to throwing their weight around had created the situation.” “Quite a few Congress rebels who had joined the BJP and were made ministers in the Trivendra Rawat government have been trying to impose themselves on the bureaucracy. Perhaps they were feeling sidelined and wanted to reiterate their importance, ” Rawat said.
The close aide of a senior minister pointed out that there was resentment among some ministers who felt that “the work of only a few ministers was being done on priority while the work of others was being delayed.” “This can only lead to confusion as bureaucrats will take up work depending on where the directions are coming from rather than on the merits of a project.”
However, the BJP was quick to claim that there were no differences among any of its leaders or confusion within the bureaucracy. Reacting to the recent tiff between Chamoli and the Dehradun DM, party spokesperson and MLA Munna Singh Chauhan said, “Both sides had their own view points. While Vinod Chamoli was representing the people during the protests, the DM was simply following the directions given to him regarding operation of liquor vends. However, things were sorted out amicably.”
He also denied that the erstwhile Congress rebels who had joined the party were feeling sidelined “All these leaders are now an integral part of the BJP. In our party meetings and conventions, their attendance is cent per cent. They have been given good representation in the state cabinet and there is no point of controversy or debate in the matter.”
WHAT DOES THE HINDUSTAN TIMES SAY
Doon
mayor, DM ‘spat’; babu-neta chasm out
Dehradun mayor and MLA Vinod Chamoli’s public
spat with the district magistrate over a liquor shop has put the spotlight on
alleged strained relations between public representatives and bureaucracy in
the state
Neha Pant
Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times
District magistrate SA Murugesan (standing
left) and mayor Vinod Chamoli (sitting right) outside the DM’s office in
Dehradun.(HT Photo)
Dehradun mayor and MLA
Vinod Chamoli’s public spat with the district magistrate over a liquor shop has
put the spotlight on alleged strained relations between public representatives
and bureaucracy in the state.
On Wednesday, Chamoli
sat on a protest at the district collectorate to seek closure of a liquor shop
in his constituency, but lost his cool when district magistrate SA Murugesan
met him after about two hours.
Though the district
magistrate insisted that he was caught up with some important meetings” which
led to the delay, an enraged Chamoli immediately sought chief minister
Trivendra Singh Rawat’s intervention to seek an “apology” from Murugesan.
A video of an
aggressive Chamoli speaking to Rawat on phone has since gone viral on social
media and has been evoking criticism for the mayor’s use of “harsh language”
against the DM.
This is not the first
incident of BJP ministers or MLAs protesting against bureaucrats in the state.
Prior to this,
ministers Satpal Mahraj, Rekha Arya and other party MLAs have openly spoken
against alleged high-handedness of bureaucracy.
“It suggests not all
is well within the (BJP) government...neither the system is working efficiently
nor public representatives are being heard in the triple engine government,”
said Dehradun-based political observer Jay Singh Rawat.
The controversy also
seems to have played into the hands of the Congress, which has accused the BJP
leaders of “behaving indecently” with and “pressurising” public servants.
“The behaviour of the
mayor has put the BJP government in the dock... when a ruling party leader has
to resort to such actions, it raises a question on the entire system,” said
Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana.
While the BJP appears
to have distanced itself from the controversy in which the mayor is seen
targeting the functioning of his own government, the clash has also left the
ruling party on a sticky wicket.
It was just last month
when a violent scuffle between supporters of minister Mahraj and Haridwar mayor
Manoj Garg (who is a protégé of minister Madan Kaushik) had left the saffron
party red-faced.
And now, this incident
involving the Dehradun mayor has caused another embarrassment for the ruling
party, just ahead of BJP’s national president Amit Shah’s visit to the state.
When contacted, BJP
state unit president Ajay Bhatt claimed that the state’s bureaucracy was very
much “under control”.
“They are working as
per instructions given by the state government.” He, however, added that the
mayor should not have got himself into an “unnecessary dispute”.
“He is not just a
mayor but also a ruling party legislator and I don’t think he should have gone
(to DM’s office) at all to protest...anyway, the problem arose because of lack
of communication (between mayor and DM). He (Chamoli) was under a lot of
pressure as an MLA but the DM, too was busy in important meetings,” Bhatt told
HT.
Bhatt, however,
asserted that there was a “lakshman rekha” for both officials and public representatives
to follow.
“Officers should
respect public representatives, but they (leaders), too, should remain within
their limits,” he said.
HT tried contacting
the mayor and the DM, but calls to both went unanswered.
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