Shimla: If voters in the tourist town of Shimla are given a choice, they would “vote out” the National Green Tribunal (NGT). Such is the anger against the tribunal that has banned all constructions in core, green and forest areas of the hill station. But there is no such option on the electronic voting machines (EVMs). And those whose names and symbols figure on the EVMs don’t talk about the NGT when they canvass.
Therefore, when Shimla residents vote Sunday, their voting preference would be determined by the only subject that dominates the poll discourse here — Balakot air strikes.
The resonance that this issue gets in Himachal Pradesh is hardly a surprise, given that over two lakh serving and retired defence personnel and an equal number of paramilitary forces belong to this hill state. One of the CRPF personnel killed in the 14 February Pulwama terror attack was from Himachal.
“The main issue in this election is how Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a fitting reply to Pakistan with the Balakot air strikes, and how he has made India strong,” said Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur in an interaction with ThePrint on Tuesday.
Many central and state government schemes have had “great success” in Himachal Pradesh, and will surely help the BJP in the elections, he said. “But a strong India under Modiji is what matters the most here in this election,” said Thakur, adding that there could be no development without security.
No wonder, no political party is talking about the NGT orders or a host of other issues that dominate public chatter.
NGT’s 2017 order
The NGT, through its November 2017 order, had banned all construction in core, green and forest areas, and limited them to two storeys and an attic outside these areas. There can’t be any construction on slopes angling 35 degrees or more. Even the smart city project has not taken off. The order has left the people as well as the government extremely upset.
“There are many other orders by the NGT which have adversely affected the state’s development. We can’t even develop new tourist destinations. We have appealed against the order (in the Supreme Court) and have also taken it up with the Centre,” Thakur said.
The people of Shimla find the NGT order “arbitrary” and “impractical”. They say if there are four people owning a floor each in an old, dilapidated four-storeyed house and it must be rebuilt, even the “geniuses” in the NGT would struggle to work out their shares.
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Apple-growers’ issues
Go uphill and apple-growers have a litany of complaints. They talk about the non-payment of Rs 100 crore dues by buyers and commission agents. But the bigger issue they have is the way “foreign apples” inundate the market, bringing down the prices of Himachal-grown apples. They want import duty on these foreign apples to be hiked significantly.
Thakur’s government has taken the issue up with the Centre and is expecting “a positive outcome”. But this is not an election issue either.
Combating drug abuse
Thakur has earned people’s goodwill through his consistent efforts to curb the rising menace of drug abuse, especially of chitta, in the state.
Last December, his government got the assembly’s approval to make an amendment to strengthen the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
He has also proposed the setting up of a secretariat at Panchkula for better coordination among states, including Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, for sharing and dissemination of information.
Thakur is, however, disappointed with Punjab’s “lack of enthusiasm”, which has slowed down the process. But unlike Punjab, where drug abuse was a big issue in the assembly elections but has been forgotten now, it has never been an issue in the hill state.
BJP sitting pretty
In the absence of any local issues in this election, Modi’s BJP is sitting pretty in Himachal Pradesh, which sends four members to the Lok Sabha.
It’s all the more confident as Thakur, a first-term CM, has had a good run so far and has smoothly led the party through a generational change, marked by the sidelining of veterans such as Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal in the BJP.
These former chief ministers have decided to make themselves count by joining the party’s campaign. The opposition Congress is, however, witnessing an intense internecine battle after the virtual retirement of veteran leader Virbhadra Singh.
Also read: BJP or Congress? Regional players look all set to decide India’s next ruling party
The first thought that struck me when I read the headline was about the state’s apple growers, covered lower down in the column.