Unemployment is an issue and challenge being discussed within the sparsely accumulated locals of the villages nestled in interior terrains of Uttarakhand which the youths have termed it a “curse in Dev Bhumi”.
And now with the Lok Sabha elections around the corner, the discussion within the people has gained momentum and given rise to individuals like Bobby Panwar spearheading a movement on the subject so much that he has thrown a tough battle for the sitting three-time Tehri Garhwal Lok Sabha MP Maharani Mala Ràjya Rani Shah from the BJP and her opponent Jot Singh Gunsola of the Congress. Shah is the Royal descendant of Kingdom Tehri and looking for a fourth straight victory.
Though Uttarakhand boasts for the first State to pass the Uniform Civil Code and the BJP hopes to retain all five Lok Sabha seats but the local issues like unemployment and health care is on top of the mind of voters and the Congress is attempting to regain the ground on the above subjects dominating the mind of youths to upset the ruling party here.
Though the traditional voters will rally behind the Congress and the BJP, Panwar who is contesting the Lok Sabha as an Independent seems to have emerged the choice and voice of youths of Uttarakhand, particularly in the Garhwal (Tehri and Pauri) region and making inroads in Kumaon landscape above Ramnagar till Pithoragarh.
“I jumped into politics after two of my elder siblings remained unemployed. I send my younger brother to Delhi where he is doing some job. In the absence of employment in all sectors, including defence and paramilitary, youth are left with no option rather than wait for tourism cycle like summer, char dhaam yatras to put their stalls of snacks and beverages. We do not have any complaints regarding infrastructure issue as we understand it’s difficult in this tough terrain but employment is an issue now deep into our heart,” said Panwar, the Independent Lok Sabha candidate from the Tehri Garhwal Parliamentary constituency.
The other four Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand are Pauri Garhwal which has sitting BJP MP Tirath Singh Rawat but the current contest is between BJP’s chief media incharge Anil Baluni and Ganesh Gondiyal of the Congress, Union Minister BJP’s Ajay Bhatt and Prakash Joshi of the Congress in Nainital Udhamsingh Nagar, Ajay Tamta of BJP and Pradeep Tamta of Congress in Almora, Trivendra Singh Rawat of BJP and Virendra Rawat of Congress in Haridwar, a constituency represented by former CM and former Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has also been an entity in the State with a sizeable vote share and has announced its candidates for all the five Lok Sabha seats which goes to polls in the first phase of April 19.
In 2019, the BJP got a massive 61.01 per cent vote share, while the grand old party 31.40 per cent followed by BSP which stood third, with 4.48 per cent vote share.
Every household of villages in Uttarakhand claims of one family member in metros like Delhi, Mumbai, to farthest like Chennai, Bengaluru or Kolkatta. Similar is the case in nicely profiled cities of capital town Dehradun, Mussoorie, Almora, Haldwani and Nainital.
From being self reliant in growing crops in step-farms, the same land patches have gone barren and rather cottages have come up in hybrid mode. Either the lands are sold out to ‘outsiders’ or lend to developers of hospitality industry for modelling recreation centres in the ranges of Himalayas for the visitors from plains.
“For us, tourists are our God. They are the economic saviours than the Government or any political parties or candidates. Elections have become just a festivity to feast on and timepass. We anyway have been enjoying our lives at our own mercy and the adage Surya Ast, Pahar Mast, comes true each passing day,” said Vaibhav Gaur, a grocery retailer in Lakha Mandal area near Damta falling in the Tehri area.
While two Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand -- Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar and Almora -- are located in Kumaon region, the remaining three seats of Haridwar, Tehri Garhwal and Garhwal (Pauri) are in the Garhwal region.
Union Minister of State for Tourism and Defence Ajay Bhatt had won the Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar seat in 2019, defeating former Chief Minister Harish Rawat by 3,39,096 votes.
The other seat in Kumaon region is Almora, the lone reserved (SC) seat in the hill State. Ajay Tamta of the BJP has been winning it since 2014. In 2019 he had defeated Pradeep Tamta of the Congress by 2,32,986 votes.
In Garhwal (Pauri), former Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat had defeated BJP stalwart Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri’s son Manish, a poll debutante on a Congress ticket, by 3,02,669 votes in 2019.
Tehri royal Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah had won from Tehri Garhwal for a third time in a row in 2019 defeating Congress’ Pritam Singh by 3,00,586 votes, while former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had defeated Congress’ Ambrish Kumar in Haridwar by 2,58,729 votes.
It was Pokhriyal’s second consecutive poll victory from the seat in 2019. In 2014 he had defeated Harish Rawat’s wife Renuka on the seat by 1,77,822 votes.
