Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh, who addressed the Himalayan Chief Ministers’ conclave on climate change in Shimla, endorsed Chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal’s initiative for regional coordination on Himalayan environmental issues. But the minister, who is known to be a close friend of Dhumal’s, did not spare various BJP governments, including Gujarat and Karnataka, for putting undue pressures on him to clear projects which are not environmentally sustainable. Turning to Himachal Pradesh, Ramesh held the view that constructions along the Shimla-Kalka National Highway are eyesores and the successive governments in the state haven’t been conscientious enough about enforcing rules. He also took a dig at Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank over the state government’s stand on the Centre’s move to declare a 130-kilometre stretch of river Ganges from Gaumukh to Rishikesh as an eco-sensitive zone.

Cracks in Congress fortress

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal may not be doing so well on the administrative front for want of a good bureaucratic team, but he has been making considerable headway when it comes to breaking down Congress strongholds in the state. Having led the BJP to a spectacular victory in 2007, Dhumal scored again when he invaded the strong Congress fortress of Shimla in the recent Lok Sabha elections. For the first time, the BJP won the Shimla Lok Sabha seat where Dhumal nominee and BJP candidate Virender Kashyap —— an 11-time loser of elections, both state Assembly and Lok Sabha — won the seat in May 2009. The latest victory comes from Rohru, where bypolls were held after the seat was vacated by former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. Dhumal camped for nearly a weak there and ensured that the former Congress bastion went into the BJP’s kitty. Losing Rohru is a big blow to the state’s former CM, who had been a sitting MLA for five times. Meanwhile, in an ironic twist to the bypolls, the BJP ended up losing Jawali — which happens to be located in the traditional BJP belt of the state— to the Congress.