A capital lost in transition

Uttarakhand is electing its fourth Assembly, but even 16 years after its inception, it is still craving for a permanent capital.
CM Harish Rawat (centre) had announced that Garisain would be the summer capital
CM Harish Rawat (centre) had announced that Garisain would be the summer capital

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand is electing its fourth Assembly, but even 16 years after its inception, it is still craving for a permanent capital. Gairsain, a non-descript town in Chamoli Disitrict of Garhwal region, was touted to be the permanent capital all through the Uttarakhand movement till 2000 when the hill state came into being, but Dehradun was declared the temporary capital. Gairsain is still awaiting its due.
In 2014, when Harish Rawat took over Vijay Bahuguna as CM, he announced that Gairsain would be the summer capital. He was supported by state Congress chief Kishore Upadhyay.

Despite having a grand Assembly built in Gairsain and with two sessions taking place there, the Rawat government didn’t declare it the summer capital during the just-concluded Assembly elections. BJP is also non-committal over the issue, but Leader of Opposition Ajay Bhatt accused the Rawat government of playing politics over it.
Gairsain has been a poll plank in every election, but the respective Congress and BJP governments have been silent over the issue. The Congress government of 2012 under Vijay Bahuguna held a Cabinet meeting in the town. “Bahuguna gave wings to people’s hopes that Gairsain would get its ultimate status when he promised a grand Vidhan Bhawan there,” says a Congress functionary.

Garisain is significant for the hill people as it is a connecting link between the people of two halves of Uttarakhand—Garhwal and Kumaon. “This issue united the people of both the regions during the statehood movement,” says a former statehood activist.

The reluctance of politicians to declare Gairsain as the permanent capital may be due to political compulsions. Over half of the 13 districts of the hill state are in four plains districts of Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital. They have a high density of mixed population and dominate the politics of the state. While Chamoli Disitrict, the seat of Garisain, has two Assembly constituencies, Dehardun and Haridwar districts contribute 10 and 11 seats respectively to the total strength of 70.
“To keep the plains population in good humour in the current polls owing to Congress’ appeasement policy, Rawat left the issue unaddressed,” said a BJP leader in the state.

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