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The Rediff Interview/ Uttranchal Chief Minister Nityanand Swami

'I am the biggest pahari'

Uttranchal Chief Minister Nityanand Swami has secured a temporary respite. The two leading figures in the new state, Ramesh Pokhariyal and Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, have decided not to press their demands for the time being and have joined Swami's cabinet. Yet the CM's job is going to be tough at all times as dissidence within the Bharatiya Janata Party continue to swell.

In an exclusive interview to Special Correspondent Onkar Singh, Swami denied that his candidature had been forced upon the legislators and that he was an outsider to the region.

"I am the biggest pahari of all the MLAs," he declared. If Swami is to be believed, dissidence in the BJP is a thing of past and he has the support of all the MLAs. He brushed aside all reference to protests over the selection of the new capital and maintains that whatever little resistance existed over the non-selection of Gairsain as the state capital would be sorted out shortly.

Is it true there was dissidence within the BJP on the issue of selecting the chief minister?

This dissidence is a creation of the media. There was unanimity over my name for the Uttranchal chief minister's post.

If what you claim is true, then why is there some much opposition to your selection as chief minister? Your critic says you are a non-pahari who has been imposed on them.

There is no opposition to my name as I have already made it clear to you. Neither has the party high command imposed me on the MLAs. My name was proposed by Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.

Regarding my being non-pahari, I have told the media time and again that I am the biggest pahari of all the MLAs. Five generations of my family have been born and brought up in Uttranchal.

We migrated to this state over 150 years ago and since then we have been living here. As far as the Rawats are concerned, they migrated from Rajasthan 400 years ago. Now they claim they are the original citizens of this place. The so-called paharis know nothing about the pahars.

If you are acceptable to the people, then why is there simmering discontent within the party?

Some differences of opinion may be there, but there is no simmering discontent within the party.

What are your priorities as chief minister?

Uttranchal consists of the plains of Udham Singh Nagar, a large part of Dehradun and Hardwar and in the hills we have Kumoan and Garhwal. The main thrust of my government would be to ensure rapid development of the interiors of the hills which are backward.

Thousands of people living in these areas have not yet seen a train. Our sisters have to bring water from far off places, sometimes travelling six kilometeres one way to fetch water. My government's effort would be to ensure that water supply reaches all the villages of the state, however remote.

My other priority is to ensure that each and every household gets uninterrupted supply of electricity. These are my efforts. I don't know to what extent I will be able to achieve it.

We plan to give employment to unemployed youth. This is a double benefit scheme. Under this the youth will be paid to teach boys and girls in remote villages. Local village youth will be hired for this purpose because even the so-called paharis do not want to go to the interiors to do work.

What about the electricity problem? How do you propose to give uninterrupted electricity to the entire state when this does not happen even in Delhi?

We have a number of electricity projects going on in the state. Vishnuprayag, Manerbhali stage II, Lakhwar, Srinagar are in an advanced stage of completion. We would be able to start Manerbhali stage II first.

We are already producing 533 mw of electricity. We can produce more than 1,100 mw of electricity. We can produce another 20,000 mw in Uttranchal. This should not only suffice in giving uninterrupted supply to the state but also get us more than Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 1.2 billion) of revenue for supplying electricity to other states.

The people of Udham Singh Nagar have been agitating for sometime. How do you propose to solve their problems?

Within hours of taking over as the chief minister, I reached an agreement with the UP government on two counts. The sugar mills of Uttranchal will continue to get a supply of sugarcane from UP farmers.

Secondly, there will be free movement of goods between Uttranchal and UP. This will ensure that the business community does not have to pay twice for crossing borders.

Uttrakhan Kranti Dal activists are unhappy with you. They say they started the movement and the BJP is now reaping the benefits. They allege the BJP planted some of its hardcore people within the UKD to sabotage their movement and forced them not to take part in the 1996 assembly election?

We did not plant anyone in their movement. Uttrakahand was a joint movement of all the parties so no individual party can claim credit for it. If they did not take part in the election, it is not my fault. They should have contested if they thought they could have won the election.

The BJP contested and won from Uttranchal, so where is the harm if the BJP is now ruling the state?

People are upset that Dehradun has been made the capital whereas they had wanted Gairsain as the capital.

I have already announced that Dehradun will only be a provisional capital and the new capital would be decided by a commission set up for this purpose. Those who support Gairsain can put forward their views on it. The people of other regions can also put forward their claims. Ultimately, the issue would be decided by the commission.

They allege you are not interested in making Gairsain the capital because you have vested interests.

People are free to say what they like. Gairsain has to have infrastructure. You cannot run the state administration from a place where there is no infrastructure.

When will you hold the first session of the state assembly?

The first session will be held within 10 to 15 days.

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