With the change of regime from the Congress to the BJP in the state and the CM’s efforts to probe scandals and ensure a tight financial control, most developmental works have come to a standstill. With two commissions, headed by former high court judges, already constituted to probe alleged scandals, officials are afraid and unwilling to stick their necks out in taking any development initiative. The contractors, the main link between the government and the execution of developmental works in the hill state, are today in dire financial straits. Now, starved of the funds, they have begun to stop working on many projects. Others have ground to a halt because of ongoing inquiries. For instance, after ordering a probe into the working of the State Industrial Development Corporation, the government has also discontinued with the four-laning work in Rudrapur town.

Interestingly, all this has been happening under Khanduri, who as Union minister of surface transport in the NDA government was responsible for the successful initiation of the ‘Golden Quadrilateral’ project linking the four metros, as well as the North-South and East-West corridors connecting the four extreme points of the country.

It appears then that Khanduri the administrator, seems to have been co-opted by Khanduri the politician. Coming as he did from national politics to state politics, amidst significant opposition from within the party in the state, he has had from the beginning to struggle to consolidate his position politically. Besides facing dissidence from former chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, who is also the BJP party chief in the state, Khanduri has had to win the support of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal to gain a majority in the assembly.

... contd.