Contracts of irrigation department to be alloted to party workers says minister Satpal Maharaj

As the assembly elections are approaching near in Uttarakhand the ruling saffron party is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that its exasperated workers do not change sides and join other political parties. Meanwhile, the high level meeting of BJP to ensure party’s landslide victory in 2022 achieving a target of 60 + seats is to take place on 29 n ,30 th June.

The dashing entry of AAP in the hilly state and proactive enthusiasm of its leaders n workers including the opposition Congress party at the grass root levels preparing for the forthcoming elections, has infact made senior BJP sitting lawmakers extremely worrisome even apprehensive of losing their seats in the forth coming elections.

Political heavy weights like tourism minister of Uttarakhand n several others are allegedly either looking for alternative politically green pastures or trying to oblige their party workers by making them strong and viable financially. Never, in the history of any political party in Uttarakhand had in the past openly advocated for obliging their respective party workers by awarding contracts of govt developmental works by openly declaring it in the media.

But breaking all norms of decency it is happening in Uttarakhand as according to media reports the tourism and irrigation minister of Uttarakhand Satpal Maharaj has the other day through a virtual media briefing announced that the contracts of the irrigation department would be issued, allocated to the BJP activists.

The tourism and irrigation minister of Uttarakhand was addressing the media virtually after virtually attending the state BJP’s high level working committee meeting yesterday.

He also revealed that the cabinet committee of ministers has taken an unanimous decision to give its consent to divide all the big contracts into smaller ones of rupees few lakhs each and award them to the BJP workers n local leaders.

Addressing the media the district in-charge minister Satpal Maharaj after attending the BJP working committee meeting said that keeping in view the long pending demand of party workers, the big contracts of irrigation departments have been divided into small contracts in order to oblige the BJP workers and thus enhance the state’s economy.

He further added that the decision has been cleared by the cabinet committee as well giving it’s official consent to the proposal.

Sounds intriguing n shocking as never before has any official decision been taken of such open favours in contracts being granted to party workers and leaders in any state n by any minister of ministers.

In the past due legal procedures were adopted to allot contracts to the applicants, though there is no doubt that there had allegedly been corruption and red tapism in the allotment processes by arbitrary collaboration between the bureaucrats, engineers n contractors.

Moreover, contracts were never divided into smaller ones with the intent to oblige party workers of the ruling party n the cabinet committee unanimously passing it to give its legal consent.

It may be recalled that Satpal Maharaj runs a massive religious organisation called Manav Utthan Seva Samittee with lakhs of followers at the national and global level with Ashrams all over India.

He had been the state railway n finance minister at the centre during HD Devegowda’s tenure as PM from Congress Tiwari party quota.

He is currently representing the Chowbattakhal legislative constituency where the AAP’s prospective candidate Digmohan Singh Negi is working hard reaching people at the grass roots to pose strong challenge to Satpal Maharaj. A towering Congress leader from Uttarakhand earlier had joined BJP in a huff after complaining of deliberate neglect of his constituency and keeping his name aside in place of another Congress heavy weight Harish Rawat in 2014.

He praised Narendra Modi then and expressed his desire that he become the prime minister of the country to lead it in a right direction. However, since then he had never been considered apt by BJP high command as an appropriate CM candidate and had to. Satisfy himself just by becoming a cabinet minister as his junior Congress leaders who’d joined the BJP bandwagon in 2017, three years after. Satpal Maharaj has always been sidelined by BJP high command despite the fact that he is a blot free leader carrying behind him a very large following of his devotees primarily being the religious or spiritual head of his organisation called Manav Utthan Sewa Samittee.

The Congress candidate has lost twice from this constituency in the past. Maharaj is in no mood to lose this seat at any cost. He is trying hard to oblige his party workers to keep them in good humour n under wraps.

Meanwhile the official spokesman of the govt, agriculture minister Subodh Uniyal and Satpal Maharaj are at loggerheads with each other over the issue of International airport to be built at Haridwar in 2030 after the former denied about any state govt proposal in this regard in the offing. Satpal Maharaj while confronting his adversary minister said that he had got the clearance in this regard from union civil aviation minister Hardip Puri as well as CM Rawat in this regard but romours are being intentionally floated in social media to oppose my proposal regarding construction of an international airport at Hardware where international tourists could land directly from US, England, Canada etc n visit Uttarakhand.

Featured pic : The tribune